The Muggle born and Frecklehead
by Morgana Wenlock
Summary: The usual setting: Harry and Hermione are at the Burrow. Hermione suddenly becomes the love interest of George and she's not sure if she likes it. When she doesn't know what to do, and everyone else gets tired of waiting, what WILL happen?
1. Chapter 1: Harry and Hermione escape

**Ok, this will be a romance fic, starring Hermione and the Weasleys. I'm not telling WHICH Weasley it is, yet, because that would be just rude ;) I felt like writing a cute romance fic, but I changed some things in the story line so it's not completely OotP compatible. What I'm saying is, just imagine Harry and the gang finishing their fifth year, there might have been evil, maybe there was a fight, either way Harry won (again), he did his O.W.L. tests and Sirius did or did not die. **

**Either way, it's AU baby! Yes, let us pretend everything is possible and just make a soppy story for once, okay? Good! **

**Chapter 1: Harry and Hermione escape**

The last person Hermione expected to see that day was Harry Potter himself. But there he stood, soaking wet, his hair in front of his glasses, an empty cage in his right hand and behind him a stuffed trunk.

"Harry?!" Hermione shrieked when she opened the door. 

The 16 year old girl recognized his grin underneath the wet hair that was sticking all over his face. He tried to wipe some of the drops away, but instead, made his face even dirtier. Hermione hesitated for a while, turning around and noticing how neat her house was. She invited her friend in.

"What are you doing here?" she then asked, as she stepped aside and tried to take Harry's coat off. Filthy drops fell on the floor, wetting the new carpet. Hermione bit her lip and continued asking.

"Did the Dursley's throw you out? Did you use magic again?! Oh Harry, does Dumbledore know, or do we have to write him? Are you hurt!?" 

Harry put the cage down in order to get his coat off and shook his head as an answer to all her questions. 

"I asked Uncle Vernon to bring me here!" he told her cheerfully.

Hermione looked at him in shock, and then glanced over his shoulder outside, looking into the pouring rain.

"Does he drive a convertible?" she asked, not understanding how Harry got so wet.

Harry grinned again. "Well, actually, I got him mad at me when we almost got here, so he just stopped the car, dumped my trunk next to the road and wished me a nice school year." 

Hermione gasped. "You walked?!" she nearly screamed.

Harry nodded and took off his glasses, squinting in an attempt to see Hermione.

"Listen, 'Hermione, do you have a tissue or something?" he said, pointing at his glasses. "A towel would be better, though" he added.

Hermione stepped outside and looked around.

"Let's get this trunk inside first," she said, and pulled the heavy thing towards the door. "Geez Harry, what's inside? Your cousin?!" 

Harry seemed to find that very funny, because he kept laughing as Hermione pulled the trunk inside.

"You were a big help, Harry." she muttered once she closed the door.

"Hey, I had to carry it all the way here!" Harry protested and looked around the living room.

"Where are your parents?" he asked, when he realized there was no one home.

Hermione smiled. "They're away together, and they trusted me alone at home! Isn't that great!?" 

Harry's jaw fell open. "Isn't that dull?" he asked, and Hermione shrugged. 

"I'm catching up with my reading and did some things for school."

"It's our summer break!" 

"You sound like Ron, Harry." she smiled and finally hugged her friend. "It's good to see you, though!" 

After the surprise of Harry's arrival, Hermione's enthusiasm quickly changed in panic. What if someone, someone like Professor Dumbledore, found out they were home alone? Was it okay for the famous Harry Potter to live in a muggle house, unprotected from any kind of dark magic. 

'_Come on 'Mione,' she thought, '_He has lived his entire life with the Dursleys_!' _

But that couldn't convince her, when she realized it was quite possible Dumbledore had placed their house under a spell. And her house was far from magically protected. In the end, Harry convinced her everything was all right and that they were in no danger. And he was right. Nothing happened. 

Nothing at all.

"You were right, Harry," she told him, after he had been there for a few days, "It's dull here." A sigh followed as she played with Crookshanks tail. 

Harry looked up from his book and grinned. "That's okay, Hermione, anything is better than living with the Dursleys. Besides, it won't be long until we can go to the Burrow. That is, if Ron didn't forget out plans we made at the end of the year." 

At that very moment Hedwig appeared in front of the window, as if Harry summoned her. She was carrying a small piece of parchment.

"A letter!" Hermione cheered and opened the door to let Hedwig inside. Harry jumped up and stood behind Hermione as both of them read the letter. 

_Harry, _

_I'm sorry I didn't write sooner! Things around here have been mad! Mom is dying to have you here, though, she's been worried sick (ok, so what's new) about you and the Dursleys. Don't worry, as soon as I finish this letter I'm telling dad to pick you up. You must be bored to death! I suppose we can pick Hermione up on our way, too. We can't leave her out, everyone keeps talking about her here, it's getting annoying. Anyway, here's a quick update on what you'll end up with:  Percy's still being a prick and we haven't seen him in weeks, Bill's around though, which is good. Charlie couldn't make it this summer and Mom is bloody angry at George and Fred. She's forcing them to go back to Hogwarts, mate, it's hilarious. I think she'll personally threaten Dumbledore to take them back, and George and Fred don't like it at all! Me neither, to be honest, their shop was doing really great. I'll guess I'll see you soon then!!_

_Ron_

Harry couldn't stop laughing, the Weasly family was exactly the opposite from the Dursleys, they were never dull. He knew Mrs. Weasly would force the twins to go back to school, and expected Percy to be .. well, Percy. As he kept laughing at the letter, a horrible feeling overcame Hermione.

"Harry." she whispered.

"What?" 

"Mr. Weasly is coming to pick you up!" 

"So? That's excellent!" 

"But he's probably on his way already, to the Dursleys!" 

Harry's smile disappeared, but after a few seconds, he had to laugh again. Hermione rolled her eyes, grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Haa-rry.." she whined. "That's not funny! Poor Mr. Weasly! And how are we supposed to get to the Burrow?"

"Oh come on Hermione, Mr. Weasly loves it at the Dursleys, their house is filled with muggle things. And besides, it will give the Dursleys a scare. That will teach Uncle Vernon to leave me standing in the rain."

"You're awful." Hermione sighed.

"And we can take the Knight Bus to the Burrow."

"I suppose." 

"You don't suppose, you start packing!" Harry yelled and grabbed his book from the table. 

"Wait!" Hermione said. "Shouldn't we write back?" 

Harry looked at Hedwig, who was looking around the room curiously. "I guess Hedwig could take another flight, couldn't you?" he asked the owl. She looked at him with her big eyes and replied with a soft "Hoot." 

Harry smiled and gave the letter to Hermione. "You do it, I'll go pack." he said. "You were bored, weren't you?"

She sighed and grabbed a new piece of paper to write on. 

_Dear Ron, _

_Harry was staying with me, he escaped the Dursleys and I was home alone. We're both really excited to come to the Burrow! I hope your dad hasn't left yet, though, and in case he has, it will be disaster with the Dursleys. Glad to hear everything at the Burrow is still the same and good news about Fred and George going back to Hogwarts! I knew your mom wouldn't let them get away with it, they belong in school anyway, right?! But we have to hurry, we're taking the Knight Bus to your place so we'll arrive really soon! I have to pack now, bye!_

_Hermione (and Harry) _

Hermione smiled satisfied and gave the letter to Hedwig. "We'll see you at the Burrow, Hedwig." she told the owl. "Thanks!"  

Hedwig took off carrying the letter and Hermione closed the door behind her.

"Right, my stuff!" she mumbled to herself as she ran up the stairs and followed Harry's example.

Hermione's street was almost as perfect as Privet Drive. Except for the occasional peeking neighbors, you could almost call the two streets identical. They were wise enough to leave the house at midnight, because two children, with two enormous trunks, an empty birdcage and a cage carrying a huge orange cat, were far from normal. They stood there, in the middle of the road, a bit helplessly. Hermione placed Crookshanks' cage on her trunk and looked at Harry.

"Well?"

Harry hesitated. "Well what?"

"Well, you're the expert on running away. What do we do now?!?" 

"Just stick your wand out like this." Harry said and showed Hermione how to do it. Hermione didn't need to follow his example however, as an enormous purple triple-decker appeared in front of them. Stan Shunpike stepped outside, grinned at the two and showed them the way in.

"Long time no see, Harry Potter!" he said, not taking the foolish grin of his face. Harry laughed a bit uneasy at him and paid him the amount of Sickles he thought was necessary.

"We need to get to the Burrow in Ottery St. Catchpole, Stan." he told the conductor. Stan counted the Sickles, nodded eagerly and turned to the driver.

"Ed! The Burrow! I s'pose we can go there immediately and then deliver Alberta to Hogsmeade!" he said, pointing two beds further, where a rather large witch was fast asleep. 

"Two beds it is, then!" Stan said and showed them two lovely looking bedsteads next to each other.

"Wow!" Hermione gasped as she carefully sat on top of 'her' bed. "Comfy!" she grinned happily. 

Stan laughed. "Thought so! Enjoy the ride, you two!" he said loudly and took place next to the driver.

Hermione couldn't stop looking around, as she had never seen the Knight Bus from the inside.

"I've read about it, but .. wow!" she kept repeating. Harry just smiled and laid back, slowly drifting off.

It took the Knight Bus no time at all to reach the Burrow, and they were awoken by Stan himself.

"Wake up! We're there! Knight Bus never fails to deliver!" he said, and laughed at his own joke. 

Hermione and Harry left the bus groggily, after thanking Stan and Ed, but before they could even take a look around, they heard two familiar voices.

"Harry!" one of them said.

"Hermione!" the other one said. Fred and George walked up to them smiling broadly. Fred shook Harry's hand firmly, and George placed a kiss on Hermione's, causing her to blush. 

"A pleasure to see the both of you!" he grinned and pointed at the Burrow, not far away.

Hermione was expecting to find an enthusiastic Ron, but didn't see him anywhere.

"Where's Ron?" she asked one of the twins. Hermione wasn't sure which one it was, she could never tell. The boy looked at her with a stunning smile, revealing white teeth. Her father would have been proud. The amount of freckles on his face was huge, and it seemed as if he was extremely tanned. She remembered Charlie having that very same trait. 

"Ronald, our beloved brother," he grinned at his twin, "has been taken by a most terrifying creature."

"Our mother," the other one shook his head in sadness.

The first one continued. "After we got Hedwigs letter, and might I say, wow Harry, you've got one fast owl, mom grabbed Ginny and Ron and went after Dad, afraid he might stick around at the Dursleys a bit too long. They should be right back."

He told the story with the biggest smile on his face, obviously amused by all of this. Harry couldn't help but grin himself and followed the twins to the Burrow.

"Speaking of the letter," one of them suddenly said and turned to Hermione, "what was that part about us going back to school again?" 

Hermione turned red again and tried to laugh. "I told Ron it was a good thing?" she said. 

Fred, who had asked the question, shook his head in disappointment and caught up with Harry, but George waited until Hermione walked next to him and narrowed his eyes. 

"I recall something about us not being able to run a shop. Hmm?" 

"I never said that" Hermione said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She normally never talked much to the twins. They also seemed to have changed over the summer. She figured it was because they ran a shop now, they were actually 'adults'. George, and Fred too for that matter, seemed different. Opposed to Ron, the two brothers were broadly shouldered, but Hermione suspected that was because of Quidditch. Hermione suppressed a giggle when she realized he was wearing an old t-shirt, probably from one of his older brothers. It was a light blue one, but on the back of the shirt a girl, probably Ginny, had drawn silly pictures and the words: "I am UGLY".

_He's far from ugly _Hermione thought and giggled, but then realized she was staring at George, but hadn't answered his question yet. 

George had raised a brow, but somehow, a smile was still on his lips. 

"Hermione?" 

"Well, it's true!" she suddenly exclaimed, a bit too hard, causing George to jump back.

"What?"

"Well, you guys are still young and you know.. you should get your N.E.W.T.'s and then see what happens. I mean, only 1 year to go, how hard is that!" she said, still quite red.

Harry and Fred had turned around and were staring at Hermione as well. George studied her for a minute, and then chuckled.

_Little Granger has a big mouth, what's new? _ he thought. Little might have been the wrong word to describe her, but she wasn't exactly tall. George towered over her. Still, from a skinny eleven year old with bushy brown hair she grew up to a .. 

sixteen year old with bushy brown hair. And a good looking one, he had to admit.

_George, seriously, you just observed Grangers boobs._

He laughed to himself again and then shook his head.

"Actually, considering our shop was doing great, very hard."

"What?" 

"We were making huge profit, Hermione!." Fred said. "And now mom is forcing us to finish last year, when we left Hogwarts in the most spectacular way possible!" Fred seemed really upset about that fact, as he had a frown on his face and the skin under his many freckles reddened.

"Well, that's.." Hermione wanted to say she felt bad for them, but then realized she didn't. "Oh come on! People will be glad to have you back, Hogwarts would be dull without you!" 

George grinned. "Even you admit this? I thought you hated our pranks?" he said, with a sly grin. 

Hermione sighed and pushed him aside, barely succeeding. "Let's get our things inside Harry." she said and tried to ignore his foolish smile.


	2. Chapter 2: Bills Breakfast

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. All the characters, names and items are property of J.K. Rowling. **

Thanks **Raven55**, **Misssy212**, **LuNa161**, **Marauder **Angel**, **princess310889** and **Draco**** is the man** for being my first reviewers ! :D**

**Chapter 1: Bills breakfast**

When Hermione woke up she discovered two heads hovering above her. She was about to scream when one of them reached out and covered her mouth.

"Shh." the other one said, placing his index finger on his lips.

Hermione calmed down when she recognized the twins. She sighed in the palm of the hand that was still on her mouth. The redheaded twin let go of her and grinned.

"Nice hot breath Granger." he whispered. Hermione waved his comment off and sat up straight.

"What's the deal?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame it. 

"Leave it this way," one of them said, "Looks wild."

Again, Hermione ignored the comment/insult and yawned. The other one, right in front of her put on a serious frown.

"You have to help us with something," he said in a low voice, "And you're the only person who can help." 

Hermione, barely awake and only half listening, frowned.

"Yes," the other twin continued – Hermione had no idea who was who, especially at this hour of the day – "See, it's Bill, he's ill." he snickered at the rhyme, but then pulled a serious face.

Hermione instantly woke up and was very aware of what she had just been asked. 

Bill Weasley, the older Weasley brother, was currently back in Britain. He was staying at the Burrow as well, but she hadn't seen him around that much. Bill always startled her when he entered the room, he was a 'different' Weasley. Sure, he had the same read hair and the Weasley freckles, but even there, he differed from his family. When she first met him, she almost jumped back upon noticing his long hair, tied together, and his fang earring, something she knew Mrs. Weasley despised. Hermione reckoned he thought it was funny, and soon noticed how laid back he was. She was always surprised at how well he handled his mother, and the fact that he could easily blend into a muggle crowd, instead of standing out like the rest of his family.

"Eh, Hermione?" she suddenly got interrupted.

"Yeah, we know it's early," the other one continued softly, "but we really need your help on this one!" 

Hermione frowned. "And why is that? How can I possibly help you? Shouldn't you tell Mrs. Weasly or something? And what's wrong with Bill?" she wanted to ask a lot of other questions too, but Fred – or was it George?- answered before she could.

"Well, we can't tell mum, she'll freak and Bill doesn't want that. And you're so kind and talented. You know a lot of stuff too, so what's the point in asking Ron if it's obvious he'd screw up?" 

It was early in the morning, and Hermione's cheeks were still slightly red from sleeping, but the comment just made by one of the twins made her glow. Well, it _was _true, Ron would screw up. She knew a lot more than him, but still.

"What's wrong with Bill?" she asked again, and attempted to tie her hair together. One of the twins grabbed her hand and shook his head.

"Leave it! It's better this way!" he said, and Hermione gaped at him. How on earth was her bushy hair, which probably stood up for miles at this very moment, _better down, than tied together in a tail? She shrugged and waited for her answer._

"Bill's just a bit feverish, nothing that a bit of rest can't cure. We made him some breakfast; it's really early, so mum hadn't made any."

"But see, Bill is the only one who has always been able to fool us, instead of us fooling him. I mean, Charlie's usually pretty easy, and don't get me started on Gin, or you guys. But Bill, he knows when we're up to something, and he's very suspicious."

"He would never trust us if we brought him breakfast, especially if we made it." the other twin muttered. Hermione laughed softly. 

"That means he's also smarter than you." she grinned. 

"Yes, whatever Granger." they eyed her shortly, and then grinned at each other.

"Perfect" they nodded simultaneously. 

Hermione was sure there was something they weren't telling her. But, as she was already awake, she might as well help them out. She sighed.

"So, how can I help?" she asked slowly.

George – or Fred – smiled and his eyes twinkled. "You, dear Hermione, are going to bring him breakfast in bed." 

Hermione paused for a moment, and then raised her brows. 

"Ok, so where is the part where me and my skills are so desperately needed?" she asked, looking less and less amused.

"Well, we can't ask Ron or Gin to bring him his bloody breakfast, now can we? Bill _knows us, he expects us to do something. But you're Granger, he barely realizes you're alive!" _

"Oh THANKS George!"

"That's Fred, Hermione." 

"Oh."

A short silence followed. Hermione stared at the blanket still covering her. She then looked up again and saw the twins staring at her hopefully.

"All right," Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, "I'll bring him his bloody breakfast." 

She got out of bed and ignored the soft cheer from the twins. 

"Excellent!"

"Shut up!" Hermione muttered. 

Hermione stood quite helplessly in front of the door that led to the twins' room. Fred and George had explained to her that Bill had to stay in their room whenever he was staying at the Burrow, because frankly, there was no room.

She held a plate with a lovely looking breakfast, sausages and eggs, fresh bread and butter. The twins really did their best! It's smelled wonderful, but she was still unsure why on earth _she_ had to bring it to him.

With her right feet, she pushed against the door, and it opened slowly. The sun had come up already, making the usually very dark room a bit lighter. She saw two empty beds, belonging to the twins and a spare bed, where Bill lied, fast asleep.

At least, she figured he was. But when Hermione stepped towards the bed, trying not to drop the plate, the oldest brother moved, and startled her.

Suddenly, he sat up straight and looked at her, frowning. 

"Goodmorning!" Hermione said when she couldn't find any better words. Bill yawned extremely loud and continued looking at her.

"If you can call it that." he said softly. "You're Ron's friend, right?"

Hermione sighed. So Fred had been right, Bill barely knew she existed. Nice. 

"Er, yes. Granger. I mean, Hermione." Hermione took a deep breath, cursing inwardly for her childish behaviour and then continued with a smile:

"How are you feeling?" 

"Ill." he muttered, suddenly looking a lot like his younger brother, Ron. Ron with long hair and a fang earring, that is. He looked a bit flustered. But when Hermione stepped closer she decided he had an extremely red head.

"Your head!" she yelped, "I mean, you have a fever!"

Bill seemed to find this very funny, as he chuckled softly. "Yes, you are very smart to notice."

"Well, it's quite obvious really, I mean, look at" Hermione stopped in mid sentence when she realized Bill was mocking her.

"Oh."

Bills eyes focused on the plate she was holding.

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

"Breakfast, for you!" Hermione said cheerfully. She remembered the twins instructions _not _to mention it was made by them and added: "I heard you felt ill, so I made you breakfast!"

Bill gaped at the young girl in front of him. Was she serious? Did Rons little friend make him breakfast?

"You shouldn't have." he said, but reached out his hands to take the plate from her.

"No wait." Hermione said and placed the plate on his lap.

"Just sit up straight and don't move your legs, or you might spill something."

She sounded an awful lot like a mother to Bill. Hermione noticed her motherly tone herself and bit her lip.

"Right, yeah, it's because my dad is a big baby when he's ill, and we .."

Bill grinned for the first time that morning and nodded.

"I get it." he said and looked at his plate again. "Wow, Hermione was it?" Hermione nodded eagerly. "This looks great. Thanks!"

"Are you hungry at all?" she asked. "I mean, you have a fever, so.."

He shook his red head. "I'm starving." he said and took a bite off his sausage.

Hermione sat down on one of the empty beds and watched him contently. The twins had said Bill didn't mind some company, so she could easily stay.

And she did, feeling slightly uncomfortable, but still.

After a few seconds however, she noticed a small change in him. Her eyes widened and she looked at him closely. Bill didn't notice and ate some of his bread. 

"Bill." she said softly and he looked at her. 

"Hm?" he said with his mouth full. The entire situation seemed ridiculous.

"Your.. hair?" Hermione jerked up when she was absolutely certain something was changing about Bill.

_"Bill knows us, he expects us to do something."_

_"We can't ask Ron or Gin to bring him his bloody breakfast, can we?"_

_"Perfect!"_

A horrible feeling overcame Hermione and she stood up, reaching for her wand and ordered Bill to drop his sausage.

"_Wingardium__ Leviosa_!" she yelled and the plate on Bills lap floated in front of him. She moved it to the other empty bed, where she dropped it and looked at Bill again.

"Ok, what was that about?" he asked, still unaware of what had happened to him.

Hermione felt her cheeks redden and began stammering.

"Oh dear Merlin, I am _so_ sorry Bill, I had no idea." she said and tried to touch his hair.

Bill grabbed her pulse before she could, and looked at her. "What is wrong?" he asked. He didn't look angry, more confused and ..slightly amused? 

"Your hair, it's .. blue!" she said in absolute horror. "And your freckles, they.. are shifting colours!" 

Bill moaned.

"I.. it was the breakfast!"

"Fred and George, right?" he asked kindly, looking straight in her eyes. Hermione just nodded, then realized what they put her up to and pulled her hand back from Bill.

"I am going to KILL them!" she yelled and turned to the door. Bill, who finally stood up to take a look at himself in the mirror, sighed.

"Just when you think they will _leave_ you alone, they send in another." he said, pulling his long blue hair in disgust.

Hermione froze as she touched the doorknob.

"Wait a minute, I didn't do this on purpose!" she said angrily as she turned around. Bill stared at her, his freckles turning from yellow to green in a matter of seconds. She had to hide her laughter. Bill raised a brow.

"No, but I can see you are obviously amused by this." he said dryly.

"That's unfair; I was only trying to help you!" 

"Some help you were." 

"Why, I'd never.." Hermione trembled with anger, but was embarrassed just the same. "You know what Bill Weasley? You, AND George and Fred are.. just as awful as Ron is!"

She then saw how Bill was chuckling, and realized he had been laughing softly all the time. He wasn't angry at all; he was just disappointed in himself for not suspecting a thing. And the way Hermione made a scene seemed to amuse him the most. From the other end of the door she heard two voices snickering and laughing. She opened the door and glared at George and Fred, who, when they noticed her, couldn't stop laughing. They looked over her shoulder at their brother and nearly fell over laughing.

"I love the hair, Billy boy!" one of the yelled. 

"Really matches the freckles!" the other one added.

"Honestly guys!" Hermione said in shocked voice. Bill shook his head and placed his big hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Hermione." he said in a calm, kind voice.

"Nice one, boys. Didn't see it coming."

"That's for sure!" they shrieked.

"But you had some help this time." Bill said and nodded at Hermione. Fred and George calmed down a bit and turned to Hermione.

"Granger, you were the best." Fred said. Hermione sighed and still felt horribly uncomfortable, especially with Bills hand resting on her shoulder, and Fred shaking her hand. George stood next to him and grinned.

"I knew you had it in you." he said, almost sounding proud.

"I have nothing in me, George. You just used me for your stupid prank, and I was only trying to help!" Hermione said, trying to sound calm, but failing still.

"It's your innocence that charms us the most, Hermione." he replied. "How did you know it was me?"

Apparently, Hermione had guessed right. "Luck." she sneered and looked at Bill.

"I'm really sorry," she started, but he waved her comment off.

"Don't worry. I only hope there's something we can do about it, because you bloody well can bet on it I am not going to walk around the house with blue hair." he said and aimed his glare at the twins.

"Easy, Bill, I'm sure mother will be able to help you out." Fred said seriously.

"And you'll match Ronald!"  George added enthusiastically.

"SHUT UP!" Another voice came from Ron's room. The door opened, a very angry looking boy with purple hair ran across the hall with a red head and entered the bathroom, locking it.

"Ron?" Both Bill and Hermione exclaimed. Harry showed his face, too, looking extremely sleepy.

"What on earth did you put in those sausages, Fred?" he asked.

Fred grinned. "Now you know why we didn't bring you any, Harry." 

"Thanks, I guess." the boy yawned and stepped back in the room.

Hermione stared from Harry to the twins and then to the bathroom. Bill had walked after Ron and was now banging on the bathroom door.

"Come on Ron, open up!"

"Shan't!" an upset voice answered.

"Oh for Merlin's sake boy, my hair is blue!" he yelled back, his head still red from the fever, but cheerfully decorated with blue freckles.

"I have _purple_ hair, Bill. Purple!" 

"At least you don't have bloody colour changing freckles!" 

"You what?" 

There was a soft murmur, then the bathroom door unlocked and opened.

Ron steppe out looking extremely flustered, but upon noticing Bill, a huge smile appeared on his face.

"I am so glad I didn't touch that bread!" he laughed at his brother.

Fred and George couldn't hold their laughter anymore and pulled Hermione with them downstairs, before Bill _or_ Ron could do anything about it.


	3. Chapter 3: Severe Punishment :

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. All the characters, names and items are property of J.K. Rowling. **

**hP**** fAn Fo LyFe – I'm still not sure which Weasley!! But thanks soo much for your review ^_^**

**Gwen Potter** - *stares blankly* Wha, me? Well written! That's like, the best compliment ever! Haha, thank you thank you thank you for your review! *nods* I love Hermione / Twin fics, all of the sudden. Fred, George, makes no difference to me :D How soon was this update? 

**Bookie** – Now you know why I have so much trouble picking. George .. YAY. But Bill would be soo interesting :P 

**Hepeppermintstripes** – I obeyed! ^_^

**blackdragonofdeath13** - *is speechless because of all nice reviews* thank yous!

**Saffire**** Shadow – *grabs the Weasleys from you and hugs them* Your review made me laugh, haha. And.. hey! Yoda is my babe. Back off ^_^**

**Chapter 3: Severe Punishment**

When Arthur Weasley woke up, he could hear only one thing. It wasn't the soft breathing of his wife; it wasn't Crookshanks who snuck around the house, not even the gnomes who made an awful lot of noise. He heard his sons, yelling and cursing even, so early in the morning. He yawned, pushed Molly gently aside and got up.

If he had heard correctly, and he was positive he had, it was Ron who was cursing. And he was almost sure it was Bill who tried to calm him down, but still in a rather loud voice.

"Molly, trouble." he whispered in her ear. The magical words woke up Molly Weasley and within the second she stood next to her bed.

"Fred, George? Where!" she almost hissed, but couldn't hold back a yawn.

"Blimey Arthur, it's so early!" she said in shock. Arthur didn't respond, as he was looking around the corner. When he looked back in the room, a look of confusion decorated his face.

"I think I just saw Ron." he said.

"And? He's our son, Arthur, he lives here." Molly sighed and walked up to him.

"No, I think I just saw Ron, with purple hair." 

Molly had opened her mouth to exclaim her shock, but then heard a rather loud word she didn't like and turned red.

"Ronald Weasley, I did not just hear you say that!" she yelled and walked past her husband onto the hallway.

Ronald Weasley turned even redder. Then almost purple, matching his hair. When Molly looked at him, almost fuming, she stopped in mid sentence and stared at him.

Then Bill, or something that looked like her oldest son, except for the fact he had blue hair and green freckles.

"You.. uh.."

Bill nodded slowly, a amused twinkle in his eye but his lip in a pout, and looked at his hair.

"Fred." he stated.

"And George!" Ron said, pulling his hair in frustration. 

Molly sighed, really loud and deep, and walked up to her youngest son. She ruffled his hair, examining it. 

"Oh Ron, that won't help." she said while she studied Bills face.

"Oh bloody hell," Arthur cursed, earning a glare from his wife, "They've done it again, haven't they!?"

"Mom, Dad," Bill said calmly, "I do believe they _did. _I suggest we take care of the twins and then, for the love of Merlin, get that purple out of Rons hair." he grinned. Ron tried to punch him, but failed, obviously.

Hermione had buried her hands in her head. For half an hour, at least, she had been sitting like that, hiding her red head from the others at the table.

There were only two. Fred and George had stopped laughing after about ten minutes and then turned their attention to Hermione. Fred sighed.

"Granger, come on!"

"Hermione.. it was only Bill!" George tried. "He's used to this!"

"But not from me!"

"You were bloody brilliant!" Fred assured her, and George nodded in agreement.

"I had nothing to do with it! You guys set me up!"

"And you did a great job!"

"I don't want to do a great job!" she yelled in complete distress. 

Fred and George grinned at her and each other.

"Tell me you lie." Fred said, his voice sounding almost afraid. 

Hermione looked up from her hands and sighed. "What?" 

"You, Hermione Granger, Gryffindors finest, don't want to do a great job?" 

Hermione moaned.

"You know I didn't mean that." she said softly. "Not like that."

George and Fred released another outburst of laughter.

"You crack me up, Granger." Fred admitted through his tears. Hermione smiled bitterly.

"Glad I'm able to amuse someone." 

The expression on her face was all pleasant. After staring at her for a few seconds, George actually felt sorry for her.

"All right Fred, enough is enough." 

Fred seemed almost shocked upon hearing his brother saying this, but one look at Hermione – who had continued staring pleasantly at her toes – silenced him as well.

Hermione noticed the sudden silence and looked up. Her face had regained a normal colour and she a tad bit calmer.

"Thanks Fred." she told George, who did something very un Weasley like. He smirked. It made him look rather, Malfoy-ish. Which meant, good looking, yet it didn't suit him.

"Eh, Hermione." Fred snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. "I'm Fred." 

She blinked. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not this time."

She sighed, slamming her head on the table softly. (A/N: how does one slam ones head SOFTLY on the table? *grin*) 

"I will never learn." she muttered. 

George tugged her hair, causing her to look up. 

"All right, 'Mione," he said, looking surprisingly serious, "Since you helped us out with _the_ summer joke, I'll let you in on a secret."

Fred looked at him, and then realized what he was on about.

"Right, fair enough." he nodded. "Only Ginny knows about this, because the brat's just too damn smart." 

"There's a very easy way to keep us apart, really." George admitted happily.

Hermione sat up straight and looked at the two boys in front of her.

To her left was –she now knew- Fred. He had a fair tan, a face covered with freckles and – obviously – red hair. He was broadly shouldered – she recalled Oliver Wood calling them "Living Bludgers" – and wore an old red t shirt on a pair of filthy jeans.

To her right, she saw George. He also had a fair tan, the same freckled face and the Weasley hair. He wore the exact same shirt (why on earth did twins have to dress alike?) and had the same friendly eyes. She shook her head. No, she couldn't tell the difference.

George snickered. "Finished examining?" he asked.

"Like what you see?" Fred added with a sexy voice that most certainly didn't sound like his. All Hermione did was roll her eyes.

"How then?" she asked. 

George smiled broadly. "Cheek." he said.

"Cheek?" Hermione repeated curiously, and instantly her eyes fell upon his cheek. She looked, but couldn't discover anything until George pointed at something. Was it a dark freckle, a mole? Hermione couldn't quite figure it out, but when her eyes flashed over to Fred, she noticed that exact freckle-mole wasn't there. And now that she'd seen it, it was a very obvious freckle-mole.

She clapped her hands cheerfully, when she finally saw the difference. 

"Excellent! And so.. obvious!" she said in an amazed voice. The twins grinned at her reaction.

"How come Ginny knows, but your mum doesn't?" 

"Mum's too busy pulling our ears all the time, while Gin has that nasty habit of studying people." George – she could finally tell – shrugged.

"Speaking of dear ol' mum." Fred said and suddenly paled.

"Good morning mother." 

A very angry looking Molly Weasley stood in the kitchen, one hand on her hip, the other one clenched in a fist. Behind her stood a very upset Ron, who threw several glares at the twins, and a now almost laughing Bill.

George whistled softly. "Bill, Bill. Your age, and still hiding behind our mother?" he told his oldest brother.

Bill grinned wickedly at George and Fred, rested his eyes friendly on Hermione – who felt very uncomfortable again - and wrinkled his nose.

"Sorry guys, but after this stunt you pulled on me, I'm one hundred percent behind mum."

"Silence, Bill" Molly ordered him, and walked to the kitchen sink without paying further attention to Fred or George. They gulped; Hermione could tell they were finally realizing the trouble they were in. Molly placed to equally large buckets in the sick and reached for her wand. A spell containing the word _aqua_ later, she placed the full buckets in front of the twins and looked at them.

"Apologize, wands away, and clean." she said. "Now." The last word was almost unnecessary, as Fred and George already stood, holding the buckets and turned to their brothers.

"Well, you know." Fred started, suddenly less charismatic than usual.

"Oh come on Ron," George sighed. "Purple suits you!"

Hermione didn't have to look in Ron's direction to know what he was doing. He gritted his teeth and glared at them.

"Mom?"

"Fred, George, APOLOGIZE."

"Sorry," came the muffled response, and the two turned back to their mother.

"Clean?" they asked, almost too afraid to ask.

Molly nodded with a small smile upon her face.

"The house, the garden, everything."

Their jaws dropped. "It's summer!" Fred started.

"Bills hair is blue and his freckles are matching Rons hair." she said without blinking.

George snickered, and even Hermione could giggle at this comment. 

"Fair enough" George sighed in defeat and put on a smile. "Fred, dear brother, let us depart!"

"All right, George my pal, clean we shall."

When they reached the doorway, they turned around and looked at Hermione. She raised a brow.

"What?!" 

"Care to join us, Miss Granger?" George asked sweetly and winked.

Hermione, who felt extremely guilty, actually considered it, but Molly Weasly responded before she could.

"No, she won't. She can help me, with undoing what you two.. TROLLS did to your brothers!" 

The twins had already left the kitchen, and Bill sat down next to Hermione, grinning at her.

"What?" he asked when he saw how she couldn't stop staring at his blue hair with a face of guilt –which, according to him, looked quite cute on her. "Blue isn't my color?" 

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, NO! Oh, Ron." she sighed as Bill chuckled, and looked at her best friend with begging eyes. Ron was too busy being angry at the world.

"I need breakfast." she stated. "Preferably NOT made by any Weasley twin." 

The attic was Hermione's least favourite place of the Burrow. She was certain it held some of the most interesting things, but it was smelly, dusty and haunted. Three reasons to stay away from it. But when Mrs. Weasley had asked her to fetch the twins, she couldn't refuse. Even though she helped fixing the "hair issue", and she could finally breathe normally around Bill, she still felt incredibly stupid and made a mental note to herself to PUNISH herself. It sucked being an idiot, she stated, when she looked around the dark attic.

"George?" she whispered, looking one way. There seemed to be no one.

"Fred?" she said, a bit louder. A box was pushed aside and one of the twins stepped from behind it.

"What, did you find Fred?" he asked. Hermione looked closer and discovered it was George. 

"What do you mean, find Fred? He's with you!"

George pointed at the empty space next to me. 

"Oh yes, I forgot, invisible Fred, how are you doing, old chap?" he shook a non existing hand, and then looked at Hermione. "He isn't here, 'Mione." 

"So? He's probably downstairs or something!" she said, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the thought of misplacing a FRED. 

"Did you run into him on your way up, then?"

"Well, no. Ok, so he's not there. But how can you loose Fred?" 

"I didn't lose Fred, he's just.. around here!"

"George, look at this mess!" Hermione waved her arms fanatically. "The Burrow isn't that big, and this attic is miniscule!"

George simply stared at her. 

"Oh, George Weasley, if this is another one of your stupid jokes, I'll"

She couldn't continue, as George had pushed her on the ground and caught a box filled with blankets in the process.

"WAS THAT REALLY NECCESARY?" he yelled up, angrily. Hermione rubbed the back of her head and got up.

"Who are you yelling at?" she asked confused. "And why did you have to be so rough!" 

"Ghoul." he muttered, then glanced at Hermione. "I'm sorry, just, used to being rough around here. Usually it's Charlie, or Bill who I'm pushing around, and that's not easy you know." he ended his sentence with a grin. 

Hermione smiled weakly. "I suppose it's not." Looking up, she frowned.

"So where's this ghoul of yours? Does it have a name?" (A/N: I'm not sure if the ghoul made an actual appearance in the books)

George frowned. "Come on, 'Mione, _name_ the ghoul? We may be redheads, but we're not daft!"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, Ginny also named one of your gnomes, you know."

"She didn't!" he laughed. Hermione nodded with a grin. 

"Aside from the fact we pretend every gnome is Snape, of course." 

"Haha, you two _are_ daft." 

"We are not!" 

"WE ARE NOT" a voice echoed. Hermione froze next to George, who seemed unimpressed.

"Do ghouls actually talk?" Hermione whispered.

"I thought they just made a lot of noise. Maybe this one is smart." he reasoned cheerfully.

"Just what we need, a smart ghoul."

"Oh come on, 'Mione," George said and pushed her away again when an old coat flew right past their heads. "It's probably Fred, or something."

Hermione stared at the coat, which was now on the ground. "This place is .."

"Dangerous. Can't believe mum is actually forcing us to clean up here," George replied. 

"Yeah, it doesn't seem to be working." Hermione said, studying the attic.

George shook his head. "The ghoul gets all excited when we're around, so he keeps throwing things around. Fun avoiding, but pretty annoying when.."

"CHAZAM!" 

George never got to finish his story, and Hermione's nerves worked overtime that morning. With a swift move, the young witch turned around, waved her arms in the air and knocked a broad grinning Fred down the stairs. No wands present, no charms available, the freckle head hit the ground with a loud "BANG" and looked up, at a horrified Hermione and a simply stunned George.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Fred managed to bring out, before he actually passed out.

"Oh Merlin," Hermione groaned and rested her hand on Georges shoulder. "Molly Weasley is going to kill me."

**I'm going to make this sound VERY un Harry Potterish.. but my first intention after writing this chapter, was to make this a Hermione, George and Bill LOVETRIANGLE. Hahaha, that would be soo wrong. Anyway, I will involve Bill in the story, because Bill rocks. And he needs to appear more in the books!**


	4. Chapter 4: How stupid are you?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. All the characters, names and items are property of J.K. Rowling. **

s.s.harry – err.. ok? Linkin Park GOOD music yes, but.. eh.. *confused* ^_^

donkeycabbages – yay! I cant believe so many people like this! 

FredandGeorge4eva – Nah, Ron and Hermy won't get together in this story. I think they're waaaaay too brother sister like anyway. OR ARE THEY? :D

princess310889 – Not just ANY Weasley, my dear, but the BEST Weasleys, hehe. I love George and Fred, haha. And I think that Bill (and Charlie) are such great, but unappreciated characters! Thank you thank you!

LuNa161 – Haha, I should count the votes for George Fred and Hermione. ;D But I'm really glad you liked it!

Sarah B. P – THANKS! 

Gwen Potter – I am reading your fic right now! (Ok, so I took a quick brake because I need to update this, I doubt you'd mind ;)) You read my mind about the triangle thingy, Hermy definitely needs to end up with George, but.. WHO KNOWS? Blah, Fred's okay, I just realized he isn't even in this chapter o.o Expect big Fred stuff in the next one, can't leave him out! Thanks for your great reviews ^_^

KitSa Reviews – It seems EVERYONE has a soft spot for the Weasley twins, including me, haha. Glad you liked the Bill/Twin/Hermione idea ^_^

Catgrl52 – Well, I'm strange. But I'm glad you like this. AND BILL IS NICE! I think? I don't know really, he's a blank character, to be honest :D

Bookie – Heehee, I love using the word "BLOODY" and I'm not even british! I already have 3 votes for the love triangle thing, hurray! ;)

hP fAn Fo LyFe – Thank youuuu, I think they're the best too, to be honest! 

**Chapter 4 : How stupid are you?**

Several days later, Hermione sat outside. She had been avoiding most of the Weasleys, simply because of the fact she was sure she brought bad luck on them. First Bill, then Fred. Who was next? 

Hermione watched disinterestedly how Crookshanks chased one of the gnomes around. She had been watching her cat for the entire morning, so it wasn't particularly interesting. Still, when the large orange cat jumped right next to one of the gnomes – Hermione was sure it was the one Ginny had named Mr. Snuggles – she laughed softly.

"Oy, Hermione, what's this?" a familiar voice sounded. "You're having fun without me?"

"I've been having fun my entire life without you George." Hermione retorded, "So calm down." 

"Ah, yes, but now that you have discovered the fun of being a Weasley prankster, you can't get enough of it, eh?" he sat down next to her and nudged her.

Hermione pushed his head away. "Honestly, George!" she sighed, but smiled anyway. "How is Fred?" she asked.

"Very busy helping Mom out." George grinned. "While pretending to be in horrible pain."

Hermione winced but George pulled a string of her hair, softly. 

"Come on 'Mione, he's all right!" 

"Define 'all right'" 

"For one thing, he just passed out after he fell. We're a house full of wizards and witches, how could you even think there was something terrible going to happen?" 

Hermione shrugged and stared at the gnomes again. Of course he was right. She should have realized that nothing bad had happened after Fred fell. Molly, Arthur or even Bill were experienced enough to heal any wound. And it was just a large bump on the head, and maybe a bruised ego. Besides, Fred was the one who had laughed the hardest. He had congratulated Hermione on her excellent reflexes, which only made her angrier. Not as angry as Molly Weasley, however. Unlike Hermione had feared she wasn't angry at Hermione at all. Rather at Fred for being "the most immature, irresponsible and stupidest twat alive!" Meanwhile, Hermione had been trembling next to George, who, after he realized Fred was going to be okay, found all of this extremely funny.

George observed Hermione from the corner of his eyes. She hadn't genuinely laughed for the last few days. He almost reckoned they were getting on her nerves. Ever since the Bill incident, she had been extremely tense and left the room at several occasions, just because she didn't trust the twins anymore.

"So," he said after having this thought, "Does this friendly conversation of ours mean you trust us again?"

Hermione looked at him, one brow raised. It made her look a lot older and wiser, at least to George.

"First of all, you can't exactly call this a conversation, second of all, I trust you, alone. And Fred, alone, though after the ghoul thing, less." she added thoughtfully. "But you two together?" 

Hermione stuck her nose in the air and made a snobbish sound. George grinned and pulled her in a bear hug. "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me." 

Hermione struggled to get out, pushed her hands against his chest and gave a fake tired expression.

"You.." she said accusingly, but the grin on George's face only grew larger.

"ME!" he said cheerfully. "And you," he jumped up and grabbed Hermione's hand, "Are going to annoy Harry and Ron. Maaaaybe even Bill!" he added with a wink. Hermione turned slightly red, but tried to ignore it. "All right, Weasley," she said in a surrendering tone, "Let's go already." 

Harry and Ron were too busy to be annoyed, however. They were cleaning their brooms, and paid no attention to George or Hermione, when they barged into Rons room. It was obvious Ron was still pissed off at his brother. 

Hermione looked over his shoulder as Ron polished his Cleansweep.

"Roon," she whined, "leave the broom, and come outside with us, will you?"

Ron shook his head and pretended to be _very _interested in his broom. Ok, so maybe he was. 

George kneeled next to him. "Oh please Ron, lets make up." he begged, but Ron placed his hand on Georges face and pushed him away.

"Sorry, not interested." he muttered. Hermione looked at Harry, for help, but he only shrugged and gave her a warning head-shake. She stepped back and sighed. But then, she suddenly realized she wasn't going to give in that easily. It was Ron, after all.

"Come on you lazy bum!" she yelled angrily at him. George and Harry looked up at her saying 'bum', then stared at each other with a grin, but Ron didn't flinch and started humming a rather annoying tune.

"Ron, shut up already!" Hermione ordered. "I mean, I just want to do something with you and Harry and you ignore us!" 

For the first time, Ron acknowledged her existence and turned around. His face looked quite.. amused. Or angry, or bored. It was odd, for the first time Hermione couldn't read his face.

"What?" she asked.

"You obviously don't need me or Harry to entertain you." he said slowly. "Harry and I are quite busy so, if you don't mind, why don't you go and play outside with the twins?" he said nodding over to George. George frowned slightly.

"Come on now Ron, is this still about the hair?" he asked, but the thought alone made him smile again. The smile never seemed to disappear off his face.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "This is not about the hair; this is about Harry and I being busy and you two spending a lot of time with Hermione!" 

Hermione gaped at him, then at Harry, who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What? Harry, do you agree with him?" she asked him. Harry raised his hands in denial. 

"Ron's being awful, not me!" he said. "But.. 'Hermione," he added, "You have been neglecting us a bit for the past few days."

Ron snorted. Hermione looked at both of them and couldn't believe what she was hearing. 

"Well you, why .. I .." This was ridiculous and not true at all! All right, she did spent little time with them, but wasn't she the one who fixed his hair? And she had spent maybe HALF a day with the twins, and it had been a complete disaster."

She glared at George, who seemed rather curious about Rons behaviour and then grabbed his arm.

"Fine." she spat at Ron. "I'll go play with the twins, then." 

"Hermiooone!" George kidded, but Hermione could drink his blood – ANYONE'S blood – by that point and silenced him with a killer glare.

Ron watched how Hermione dragged his older brother outside and sighed. 

"Honestly, when will she realize she actually _likes_ him?" he said as he put his Cleansweep away and started staring at Harry. 

Harry put his broom away as well, and continued what he had done before Hermione barged in. Being horribly bored.

"I don't know Ron, I sure hope this whole thing was worth it."

"We made no sense, did we?" Ron grinned.

Harry shook his head with a grin, as well. "No. I especially liked the part where you blamed George and Fred of stealing Hermione from us." 

Ron smiled proudly. "Made that one up myself, I did. Hope it gets through her thick head soon, though."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Now that we scared our best friend and your brother away, what can we do?" 

Ron shrugged. "Beats me." And the two friends continued to stare blankly at each other.

"You didn't try to fix any of it, did you?" Hermione accused George seconds later. 

"Hermione, honestly, you think I could?"

"Well, it was complete rubbish that Ron blamed me for spending time with you two. Which I'm not!" 

George smiled at her. "Come on, you _are_. And Ron's just jealous, is all."

"Of what?!" Hermione shook her head. "There's nothing to be jealous at. You two just mislead me and used me for this stupid out of place joke, and then I accidentally pushed Fred down the stairs because HE scared me. So yeah, I've been checking on him, but.."

A sigh of frustration ended the rant and Hermione gave up trying to reason with anyone. 

"I'm going to Ginny's room and you are going to make sure she, or anyone else, will stay away from it."

George stared at the girl in front of him and nodded slowly.

"Whatever you say 'Mione." he said, stepping out of her way as she rushed to Ginny's tiny room.

"Men." 

George chuckled.

Hours later, Hermione realized Ginny hadn't come to check on her. This could mean only one thing; George actually listened to her. She looked down at her book again – she had snatched one of the twins' study books – and smiled. Reading up on magic always managed to cheer her up. But her smile turned into a frown as it also reminded her of Ron and Harry, looking over her shoulder, taking her notes and simply hate reading. Suddenly, she heard something tapping on the window. She frowned. An owl? 

_Hey muggle born, _

_When are you going to come out? I'm bored. You're fun!_

_George_

Hermione stared at the letter, then at the owl. 

"You're George's owl?" she wondered out loud, not expecting an answer from the fair barn owl. Hermione figured that George bought himself an owl after their success with that stupid joke shop. The bird stared at her, and she knew it was waiting for a reply.

_I'll give you your bloody _reply, she thought, after she had read the short note once again, then ripped an empty page from the book and scribbled a note.

_Dear Frecklehead, _

_How about : NO? You're never bored and I'm not coming out._

_Hermione_

"Here, take it." she said to the owl and sent it away. Turning back to her book, she almost forgot about the whole thing, when suddenly the owl flew back into Ginny's room and delivered another letter.

_But dearest 'Mione, _

_I have been guarding your door for 3 hours now, scaring away the likes of Bill, Ginny and even my father. Surely, you understand this is DULL?_

_George_

Hermione rolled her eyes and hesitated. Why did she even bother to write back? It was obvious he was kidding. But there was no harm in having fun. Ron and Harry were having fun too. She snorted, and wrote back.

_I'm glad you have taken my request seriously. I'm sure scaring away Bill and Ginny was quite difficult. Now, would you please stop sending your cute owl, I'm sure he has better things to do. And so have you._

She grinned when she gave the note to the owl, which hooted softly and took off again. This time, she didn't bother to return to her book, and waited patiently for a reply, which came quite soon.

_Daft girl, since my brother is constantly being watched by my mother dear, my brothers both ignore me because of a certain stunt WE pulled, I HAVE nothing better to do! Like the owl? I named him Zeus, but it doesn't suit him. But give the mighty Zeus a break, he likes you 'Mione! _

"Zeus?" she frowned and looked at the owl. He didn't look like a Zeus to her. 

_George, you set me up, I did not pull any stunt, you have my permission to leave, now sod off!!_

To be honest, Hermione wasn't that annoyed. She sure wasn't angry anymore. But what else was she supposed to do? This owling thing was useless!! And even though she knew he was going to leave her alone now, she was still expecting – or hoping – for a reply. Mighty Zeus flew inside once again, carrying a tiny note.

_You okay?_

Hermione smiled.

_Just swell. Thanks._

"There, now don't come back, right?" she told the owl, but was sure it would only listen to George. She pushed the large book – which she had ignored – from her lap and lay down on her chest. She studied Ginny's room without actually looking at it well, and rested her chin on her hands. 

"Bugger." she muttered when Zeus landed next to her.

_That's it, I'm sending him in. Have to dash, will talk to you later, 'Mione._

_CHEER UP_

Those last words were written in big font, and George had underlined the word 'him' several times. She suddenly shook up. Him? Who on earth was he talking about? Her eyes flashed to the door, as the knob turned and the 'him' walked inside.

Oh bloody hell. 

Bill's eyes made contact with hers, and with a swift move he grabbed a chair and seated himself in front of the bed.

"Hello Hermione."

Hermione dropped the head on the pillow before she replied a soft: "Hi Bill."

A silence followed, until Bill coughed softly and gained her attention.

"May I ask why you are here?" she asked. Her own voice startled her, as it left her mouth in a high pitched tone, sounding very un Hermione-like. 

"George?" he replied, in a questioning voice. He saw her confused expression and smiled. It brightened his face, Hermione noticed.

"I happened to walk past him and he said you could use a good BBT." 

"B..BT?" 

"Brotherly Bill Talk." 

"Please tell me you didn't come up with that name." 

"Of course not, it was Ginny's idea." he retorted seriously, but grinned as he noticed Hermione's expression.

"Ok, so I made that up. But I did ran into George, sitting on the ground. He had to leave, though, and told me you had taken over Ginny's room."

Hermione grinned. 

"I needed some alone time, it's really hard to get that around here, you know!"

Bill laughed, now. A genuine laugh, and a rather loud one too. She smiled happily, because it was her who made him smile.

Bill confused her. She never paid attention to him before, but after what happened a few days ago, she couldn't help but notice him. She caught herself looking at him quite often. And she was still somewhat uncomfortable around him, because she never knew if he was kidding or not. And what he wanted from her. Bill had told her on that dreadful morning that he barely knew her. So why on earth was he alone with her in a room, offering a 'brotherly talk'? 

Brother, her ass. Damn fine looking guy, he was!

"So," Bill broke the silence again, and chuckled softly, "The Weasleys are finally getting on your nerves?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, not that! Oh no, you are like my second family. It's just.." she hesitated, but Bills friendly eyes looked genuine enough, "I never asked for two living jokes following me around."

Bill immediately understood and forced back another chuckle. Merlin, this girl had no idea. She was just as bad as Ginny. Ginny had grown up, an unpleasant surprise to him, but was still as innocent as always. He saw those guys looking at her, when they visited Diagon Alley last time. She barely noticed. 

Same thing with Granger here, he reasoned. She obviously had changed – not that he had noticed, but he never really did notice the girl – and his jackass brothers fancied that change. He could see why, because the girl in front of him was pretty enough. A bit young, but even he wasn't that dense not to notice she was _all grown up_ as they say. He liked her face most of all, however. It was full of emotions; you could read it, like a book. Right now, it was slightly red, she had quirked a brow and her mouth stood slightly open, as if she wanted to say something.

Hermione had no idea what this conversation was about. She just confessed how much the twins annoyed her, and all Bill did was smile and watch her. It made her feel funny inside. He was so close, and so cute. Hermione blinked. She punished herself for thinking like a silly teenager.

_Wake up Hermione, you ARE a teenager_. 

Bill got up and leaned over, his face was now very close to hers. He had a friendly smile on his face, which turned into a happy grin when he whispered:

"I think you have to figure this one out yourself, Hermione. Do you really hate Fred and George that much?" 

She shook her head slowly, staring right in his eyes.

"No..I don't _hate them, I .. just.."_

She couldn't _quite _figure out what she was trying to say, as the 'brotherly' Bill made her very nervous. He was so close she could easily kiss him.


	5. Chapter 5: Realizing the worst

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. **

_WHY WOULD I DO THAT?!_

She crawled back, much to Bills surprise, and stared at him with big eyes. She just thought about kissing Bill, and only seconds later, that same thought made her feel ill.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" he asked, with the same gentle voice he always used.

"Yes!" Hermione assured him, and quickly forced herself to smile.

Bill grinned. "Good, because they certainly don't hate you, you know." He gave her a meaningful look.

For a second, Hermione wanted to jump off the bed and run to the door. She wanted to get out of the room as fast as possible. She was about to, her hands had already grabbed the letters from George behind her. But then she froze.

"Are you.. saying what I think you are saying?" she asked him.

He quirked a brow. "I certainly hope you are as smart as they say you are, so that you _are thinking what I'm saying." _

Both of them blinked at this comment. 

"Eh." 

"Let me try that again," Bill laughed, "I'm saying that the twins are _bothering you for a reason." _

Another funny feeling came over Hermione.

"Oh Merlin, no." she groaned. Bill laughed even louder.

"Well, I'm not sure about Fred, but I know that George has never spent an entire afternoon waiting in front of Ginny's room because _someone_" he winked at Hermione who blushed furiously, "locked herself inside."

Hermione stared at a pillow. "Honestly, you're not joking here?"

"Why would I be joking about this?" Bill said, sounding genuine. 

"So.. George.. likes me?"

"Bingo."  The grin on Bills face couldn't  be any wider. Hermione, however, didn't find any of this as funny as he did. George Weasley liked her? Why did he insist on annoying her? Why did he deliberately set her up to a mean joke?

"That's impossible."  she concluded.

"No it's not." Bill retorted, sounding like an 8 year old, "It makes perfect sense."

Hermione looked skeptical. "Did he tell you he liked me?" she asked him.

"No, but I know these things. I'm his older brother, remember?"

"Well, you're also a guy, and what do guys know." she scoffed.

"Well Ms Granger, to be honest, you're quite clueless yourself." he said, not sounding angry at all.

Hermione hesitated for a moment.

"Ugh. What _am I supposed to do with this? Why does he like me?" she looked at Bill as if expecting an answer._

"You are asking me?" he asked her. Hermione nodded hopefully.

"Well, come on!" he smiled, "You are obviously an attractive girl. And the boys are daft, but not blind!" 

"You.. think I'm pretty?" she asked. Her voice sounded hopefully, or maybe it was surprised. Bill didn't notice, and nodded.

"You are." he stated. "And Fred and George are boys. Boys like pretty girls, and see here, we have one, in our own house!" 

Hermione couldn't believe she was having this conversation. And the fact Bill, _and _the twins thought she was pretty. She sighed, closed her eyes, then opened them again and looked at Bill.

"So, what if, _supposedly_ George, or Fred, likes me." She said slowly, barely believing her own words. "Why are they treating me like they treat Harry? Or Ron, for that matter! They are just as childish, immature and annoying around me as they are around anyone else!" 

Hermione's voice raised in anger, until she noticed she was almost yelling at Bill and shut her mouth. She shrugged and bit her lip when Bill gave her a funny – but ever so sexy – look.

"Well, you know what I mean," she squeaked. 

"Hermione, think about it. Have you ever seen Fred or George with a girlfriend?" 

Hermione thought. Neither of the twins had been romantically involved since she met them. Hogwarts was one huge gossip center, she'd _know if anyone was dating anyone. Sure, they took girls with them to the Yule ball, but aside from that?_

"No." she answered meekly.

"It's because they are nutters. They are friends with everyone but when it comes to girls, romantically involved, they have no clue."

Hermione nodded slowly, wondering why Bill knew so much about this.

"So, they act just as stupid around girls as normally, or even worse, in your case." he grinned at her. 

"But.. but.." Hermione, who was now convinced of the possibility one of the twins liked her, started to panic. "I don't like them! I mean, I like them, of course, but.. not like that!" 

Hermiones brains worked overtime. How on earth did all of this happen? Did the twins really liked her, and thus annoyed her so much?

Bill nodded approvingly at a now aware Hermione.

"Well, my job here is done." he said. Hermione's head jerked up.

"No it's not!" 

He stared at her. "Hermione, you now _know _why they bother you so much, it's up to you to do something with it."  He chuckled at his own advice.

Hermione stood up and saw George's notes. _George, all this trouble, because of me?_ She slapped her forehead. 

"This is so not fair!"

"Poor Hermione," he chuckled, "Two Weasley brothers who like her." 

She glared at him. "How am I supposed to tell them any of this?"

Bill shrugged. "Hey, I'm just passing through the message. You'll find a way."

Sighing, she kicked one of Ginny's old stuffed animals. "Much help you are," she muttered.

"I'm hurt."

"You should be." 

Bill sighed. "I think it's time we gave Ginny her room back," he said and turned around. He opened the door and looked at Hermione again.

"Just don't do anything.. foolish, okay? Mum would kill me if she found out I was the one who gave you the wrong advice.." 

She smiled bitterly. "Thanks, I suppose." 

Bill grinned. "And Hermione, you are _much _prettier when you smile."

She forced a smile on her face and followed the tall Weasley. "I know, I know." 

Her reply didn't sound very convincing. 

Several days later, Hermione still wasn't able to smile. Harry and Ron continued ignoring her. When she confronted them about this, Ron had merely laughed at her.

Even Harry, of all people, told her she was better off without them. They were busy preparing for next years' Quidditch season.

"And besides," Ron had sneered, "You get along with Bill quite well, go and have fun with him."

Hermione could've hexed them. She was _this_ close to actually drawing her wand, but when she saw Fred and George approaching, she simply stamped her foot and took off. She never saw how Ron and Harry looked at each other and sighed. She never heard Harry asking: "How long are we going to keep this up?" and never heard the answer Ron gave: "As long as it takes for her to figure out. Damn her."

Breakfast wasn't the same after that. Harry and Ron kept to themselves, avoiding Hermione's pleading looks, which turned into glares later on. While she was trying to change Ron and Harry's minds, she was also avoiding Fred and George, who continued to pester her. Bill merely observed her from a distance, and from time to time he would wink at her, or laugh at her. And even though he meant well, Hermione hated him for it. Because it made her shiver from top to toe and she couldn't find her words.

Molly Weasley got tired of yelling at her sons for everything and found a more effective way. Punishing them, _muggle__ style. Sure, Hermione admitted she kind of gave her the advice, but the actual punishment was all Molly's idea. Whenever Fred and George managed to upset her, she would take away their wands and force them to do all kinds of chores. It was about the only thing that cheered Hermione up._

When she woke up the next morning, she noticed how early it was. After a few seconds, she carefully opened her eyes and sighed with relief when there was no signs of the twins. Carefully she stepped out of her bed, and left Ginny's room. When she reached the stairs, she heard noise coming from the kitchen.

 "Granger!" Fred greeted her once she got downstairs.

"Fred." Hermione groaned. "Goodmorning." 

"I'm fine, thanks. Yup, it's a lovely morning indeed. So nice of you to ask."  Fred retorted, adding a meaningful look to that comment. Hermione yawned before nodding her head. 

"Yeah, okay, I suppose I can try to act awake. But honestly, I'm feeling cranky, so you've been warned." she confessed and noticed a huge yellow object in Freds hand.

"What's that?"

Fred looked down at what he was holding and a smile appeared.

"Sponge!" he said, as if it was the most brilliant thing in the world. He squeezed it, and drops of water fell from it on the floor. Then he nodded over at the kitchen sink.

"Punishment." he confessed.

Hermione grinned. "Your mum is forcing you to do the dishes? At this hour of the day?" she asked.

He nodded and walked back to the sink, expecting Hermione to follow him. She did, and looked over his shoulder with curiosity. She knew better than to pay attention to the twins, but leaving now would make it too obvious. Besides, how bad could Fred be on his own?

"I've never seen a wizard doing dishes." she said. 

"That's because they don't. Unless you have a mother named Molly Weasley."

She laughed. "So what's stopping you from using magic? I don't see your mother around."

It was true, Molly was nowhere in sight. But why she was even talking about escaping the punishment she gave him, Hermione didn't know.

"Mother knows, Granger, Mother knows." he gave her a warning look and continued doing his dishes.

Fred was humming to himself as he did the dishes, which amused Hermione. But after a few minutes of observation, she realized he was incredibly slow, and most importantly, very clumsy. Now, any other person would have walked away and let him do it on his own. But Hermione, used to a clumsy Ron and a slow Harry, got itchy fingers. She saw how Fred carefully scrubbed every fork, as if they were the most precious thing in the world. And as she continued to watch him, she sighed with annoyance, until Fred looked up at her with a frown and asked:

"WHAAAT?"

Hermione shook her head. There was only one thing she could do, and that was not leaving him to it, it was helping him. So she grabbed a towel and threw it at him, took the sponge from him and started cleaning the forks and knives like a madman. At first, Fred had looked at her with confusion, but when she glared at him and told him to "DRY OFF" he obeyed and could barely keep up with Hermione's speed.

Hermione heard him humming after a minute or so. She was she wasn't as annoyed by him as she was by George. Somehow, Fred wasn't _all _over her, like George could be. So maybe Bill had been right. Maybe it was _George who liked her, a bit more than was good for both of them. She sighed._

"Where is George, anyway?" she asked him. Fred stopped humming, and smiled a teeth revealing smile.

"You miss him already?" 

Hermione handed him a glass, and glared at him.

"No I don't miss him," she answered as she took one of the last plates, "I was just wondering, because you two are _always _together." She paused and then added, just to make sure: "Besides, I'm glad he's not around this time."

"Oh, why's that?" the reply didn't sound very interested.

"You Weasley's are getting on my nerves. Ron, George, Bill, you."

"Hang on a sec, Bill?" 

Hermione flustered and focused on the plate in her hands.

"Granger, did you say Bill?" Fred asked and waved his towel in front of her eyes.

"Fred, I can't see!" she said angrily, and then looked at him. "I said Bill ,yes." 

Fred laughed at her expression. "Never though I'd see the day Bill got on someone's nerves!" He kept on laughing, even when Hermione pushed a plate in his hands, forcefully.

"What did he do?" he asked eagerly.

Hermione hesitated. "A BBT?"

That was enough for Fred, who turned to the dishes with a huge smile. After a few minutes of silence, he turned back to her.

"But why do I get on your nerves then?"

"I liked you better when you were humming." Hermione said, but she smiled a little.

"You, Fred Weasley, are just as bad as your brother."

"I do believe, Granger, you were the one who pushed me down the stairs."

"I did _not push you down the stairs; you decided it was funny to scare the living daylights out of me."_

"It _was!" Fred laughed. "You should have seen your face Granger. You almost fainted in George's arms by the time I hit the floor!" Fred had stopped drying off to control his laughter. Hermione paused and looked at him._

"How can you find things like that so funny?" she asked him. Fred couldn't answer, he was too busy laughing. Hermione felt a smile playing on her lips and it didn't take long before it turned into a chuckle.

"Fred, stop. You're making a fool out of yourself." she said, and Fred grinned at her.

"That's a first!" 

Hermione looked at him for a few more seconds until she started laughing as well. It wasn't as loud as Fred's laughter, more like a giggle that went wrong, but at least her face displayed a genuine smile.

"Ah I see you managed to cheer Hermione up!" 

Molly Weasley, followed by George who held a bucket of water. He yawned, until he saw Hermione and Fred.

"'Morning, guys." He greeted and placed the bucket on the table. 

Hermione had left the dishes to Fred, because it was _his _punishment, after all. During breakfast, she actually talked to him, for the first time in days, and with him, George as well. She had forgotten her anger towards the two, since they hadn't pulled any stunt lately. But every time Hermione saw Bill she was reminded to his BBT and the fact there was a possibility one of the twins liked her. Suddenly, she wasn't that hungry anymore.

"I cannot believe Mrs. Weasley did this!" Hermione hissed. She stepped onto the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley and looked behind her. Ron and Harry looked at her briefly, then mumbled something about Quidditch Supplies.

If Hermione could growl, she would have. Not only did Ron and Harry upset her still, she was also in a most uncomfortable situation. As if things weren't bad at the Burrow, she was now stick with two grinning Freckleheads. Bill Weasley and George Weasley watched with surprised faces how Ron and Harry took off and then simultaneously grinned at Hermione. She didn't know what was worse, two twins laughing at her with the exact same grin, or one of them and his older handsome sexy brother, doing exactly the same.

_HE IS NOT SEXY 'MIONE._

Her mind had been telling herself this for the last couple of days. Truth was, Bill was. He had something that appealed to almost every girl. Hermione noticed even now, on the streets how witches of _every ages turned around to look at Bill. Some started to blush or giggle, some frowned disapprovingly at his earring and others just glanced and continued to walk. Bill was just standing there, discussing something with George, as Hermione held up a list of supplies._

"Why don't you, Bill, George, Ron and Harry go to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies. Me and Mr. Weasley have an urgent appointment, and since Ginny is ill, I want Fred to watch her."

That one dreaded sentence made all of this possible. Hermione couldn't oblige, how could she? She adored Mrs. Weasley, and the five of them shopping was a logical thing to decide. But Mrs. Weasley didn't know Ron and Harry ignored her and that Hermione, ever since her talk with Bill, was very uncomfortable around both Bill _and George. _

"Right then." Bill spoke, after a long uncomfortable silence. 

"I'm off to Gringotts, I'll see you young ones in a few hours." 

Hermione's jaw dropped, and as Bill walked passed her, she grabbed his big arm.

"What do you think you're doing," she hissed through clenched teeth, eying a very innocent looking George.

Bill leaned over to her. "I am.. going.. to .. the bank." he said, and chuckled. His warm breath near her ear made her shiver. 

"And leave me with him?" she forced herself to ask.

Bill looked up at his brother and grinned. "Hermione, it's George, you've known him for 5 years. He won't bite."

He shook himself loose and ignored her pleading look. "Besides, you two can catch up." he said before walking towards the Wizarding Bank, whistling a happy tune.

Hermione could shoot him.

She felt someone grabbing her hand and sighed as George pulled her with him.

"Come on, 'Mione." he said. "We'll get our books and I'll buy you an icecream, okay?" 

"I am _not a baby, George." she said, although the sound of ice cream did sound appealing._

George looked at her and grinned. "No you sure aren't." he said and pulled a heavily blushing Hermione with him in the bookstore.  

But, unlike she thought, George wasn't all over her in the book store. In fact, she caught him reading a book when she went looking for him.

"George?" she said surprised. He looked up and put his finger on his lips. His lips formed a smile and he closed the book.

"I think I'll take this one." he said happily. Hermione stared at the book. It was a charms book, a very old one.

"I didn't know you were interested in charms?" 

"Are you kidding? It's one of the most useful things they teach at Hogwarts. And it also helps in developing items for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." 

Hermione smiled weakly. "I should've known." 

He grinned and hugged his book. "You should have. But still, aside from that, charms is one of the best subjects." he admitted.

She beamed at him. "Isn't it? I know it's silly, but personally, Charms is my favourite subject. I mean, you've got Harry who's really great at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Ron's .. really good with.. Flubberworms, and other creatures. But me, I really prefer Charms."

George grinned at her, Hermione could go on and on about school subjects, he knew. It was cute the way she had that dreamy stare in her eyes when she talked about magic.

"I know," he interrupted her, "plus I think Professor Flitwick is hot."

"Yeah!" she yelled, and then realized what he said. "What?" 

George laughed and smacked the back of her head with the book, softly. She grinned and followed, as George placed the book with the rest of the pile. Half an hour later, they left Flourish and Blotts. Hermione looked to her left and sighed when she saw Harry and Ron, still drooling at the Quidditch store. Shaking her head, she turned to George. She was stuck with him, she realized.

"So, where to?" she asked him.

George put on a frown and seemed to be in deep thought.

"I suggest.." he paused, his eyes glancing over at Ron and Harry, Hermione's disappointed face and the ice cream store right across the street. 

He smiled. "Ice cream."

For once, Hermione totally agreed. She didn't even shake off George's arm and started babbling on about Charms again. George simply nodded, and from a few windows away, Harry and Ron grinned at each other.

**_Ok, so this chapter was dull! But you've got to have dull chapters to build up the excitement. YES YES YES I am aware you guys want a Hermione/George pairing, and that was the main idea for this fic. But Bill's so adorable :( Mind you, in my head, all the characters from HP (except Harry himself) are dead sexy. Harry stays an innocent little boy, but the rest of them.. *drools*. In my head.. _**

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**_ANYWAY! This will be a H/G, so back off.. *sobs* But, I was just randomly wondering, how does George differ from Fred? Who's calmer, who's more sane. What makes George a better guy for Hermione than Fred? HUH?! HUH?! _**

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**_I wanted to say a lot more uninteresting things, but lets forget about that and thank all the people who have reviewed earlier chapters! _**

**DazedPanda -  hehe**, everyone's so keen on this love triangle thingy. What to doo? Thank you for your review!

**Xtreme Nuisance – **lol, OKAY!

**LuNa161 – **I had the same problem with chapter 4. It didn't exist, but I just uploaded it! Luckily, it works again. ^_^ I'm really happy you like it. I agree, Hermione/George is right, for some reason!

**pickled-cow **– Yes, Bill is cute (because I said and wrote he is)!! Haha, I know, I know, G/H is great, but I just felt like .. including Bill for some sick twisted reason :D

**Spaced Out Space Cadet – **Yes yes, I knooow! George / Hermy foreverrr.. (*drools at the thought of Draco for some reason*) I DID do well on my test, thanks for wishing me good luck! AND for reviewing! 

**princess310889 - ***pouts* I can't stand puppy dog eyes. HERE'S THE DAMNED CHAPTER!! :P

**Farfalla1 – **THANK YOU!

**hP fAn Fo LyFe ** - thanks!

**FredandGeorge4eva **- I was confused as well. I DON'T KNOW! She likes them all, damn her! Hermione likes them all! Ok, so eventually this will be G/H.. but I like confusing her, you and me. Hehe.

**Aindel S. Druida – **No, that chapter HAD to end that way. I had to take revenge on all those writers who wrote brilliant fics and then… ended their last chapter with a horrible CLIFFY! Cliffhangers, the worst invention ever *shakes head sadly* I KNOW YOU GUYS DON'T WANT BILL! It will be George, I think… ;)  You really think he's more sane? O.O Thanks for reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6: Malfoy and muggles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. **

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat. George sighed. She wouldn't loosen up, _one bit._ He watched how she stirred in her empty glass and tried to look anywhere but at him.

"So, am I that ugly?"  he asked, causing Hermione to look up.

"What?" she said, and George realized she had been elsewhere with her mind. He faked an annoyed sigh.

"Honestly, 'Mione, you've been staring at that table for 10 minutes. Now I know Florean has nice furniture, but since I bought you the ice cream you could at least look at me!"

She furrowed her brows and smiled nervously. "I could, I suppose." Hermione paused and added a soft "You're not ugly."

Grin.

She laughed softly and began talking about Charms and school. George was surprised to find out they had quite similar interests, except for the fact he used his 'knowledge' for 'evil'. 

"You could have been a prefect too, you know." he heard Hermione say. He laughed.

"No, that chance was blown out of the window in my first year. I have a Hogwarts Record, and it will haunt me for life." His grin faded into a sad face, but he knew Hermione would know he was kidding.

"See what these stupid jokes have done for you?" she then said, a smile on her face because she knew she was right. "You were too caught up with inventing things that you hardly studied for your O.W.L.'s"

He shrugged. "See, 'Mione, that's where you and I differ from each other. You care about the O.W.L.'s, I really don't." he admitted.

Hermione paused a moment, studying him. She then raised her finger and grinned.

"Aha! And yet I have seen you studying at the last moment. You got scared, huh? You _realized_ you had been wasting your time. You DO care" she said.

"Actually, there's a perfectly good explanation for that. Mother Weasley."

Hermione sank back in her seat. "Right."

He laughed, knowing she understood. "Didn't know you were watching me in fifth year?" he said, casually.

Hermione raised a brow. "I wasn't watching you. You lived with me, so I noticed!"

"Sure, sure, 'Mione."

She sighed with annoyance and stroke her hair from her face. "Besides, how many O.W.L.'s did you earn? Five?" she asked.

"Three."

"THREE?" She nearly fell out of her chair. The thought of failing all other subjects except three made her feel sick. George shook his head with a smile.

"We never cared about them, 'Mione. You shouldn't care about my results, either."

"But.. what subjects .."

"Charms, Transfiguration and Potions."

"Wow," Hermione said, and she smiled, "You just do what you enjoy most, don't you?"

George grinned.  "What are you implying?"

"Charms, Transfiguration and Potions, all very useful in creating items for your shop, huh?" she retorted smiling happily.

"Oh Granger, you're so smart."

Her smile disappeared. George noticed immediately. "What, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Don't call me Granger." she told him. He was confused. Granger? It was her last name, a lot of people call her that.

"Why not? Fred does!" 

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fred's Fred. I never liked my surname. So just call me Hermione." 

George quirked a brow, but a small smile played on his lips. "Can't I call you 'Mione, like I usually do?"

She looked at him. "You do? I never noticed."

George leaned backwards and stretched. Nope, she never noticed. Of course, because she hardly paid attention to him. He nodded and saw how Hermione looked over her shoulder, at where Harry and Ron had stood a while ago. They had left, probably avoiding Hermione, like they had done all week. He saw her sighing and turning back to him with a fake smile.

"So," she said softly, "I didn't know you had an owl." 

George bit his lip to stop him from laughing. The subjects she chose to talk about were incredibly random, it was obvious she was very uncomfortable.

"I bought Zeus at the beginning of this summer. I always told Fred I'd buy my own owl once we got out of Hogwarts." 

"You've got it all figured out, don't you?" Hermione said sceptical, "In your head. You know what you want and eventually you get it."

"Well.." George paused and blinked. "Yes. I suppose. But come on 'Mione, if you ahd to share Errol with my entire family, you'd buy yourself an owl too!"

Hermione giggled. It was true. The Weasley's old owl was practically useless, because if the owl delivered the letter (which didn't happen very often) he was usually half dead and needed days to recover. At least Zeus was young and quick, as she had experienced.

"I expected a purple owl, actually. Or a spotted one. You know, something Fred and George like." she commented.

He grinned. "Excellent idea. I never considered it, actually, but maybe Zeus needs something to.. liven up his looks."

"Shut up and buy me another ice cream," she ordered, and looked down the street. George stood up, and laughed. "Because you asked so kindly," he told her and left her alone.

He didn't notice Hermione wasn't alone. She stared dully at the table when a shadow fell over her. She looked up and faced a rather satisfied looking Draco Malfoy. She groaned.

"Look what we have here." he said, and watched Hermione with a cold glare. "I remember why Diagon Alley annoys me so much. The Gryffindor scum that's present bothers me. Mudblood Gryffindor scum, might I add."

Hermione looked up, trying to return the hateful glare he gave her. She failed, and blinked.

"I wish I could disagree with you Malfoy," she said slowly, "But the fact you walk around here confirms my suspicion. Too much vermin walking around here." 

His expression changed briefly, until he bent forward and faced her.

"Hold still, filthy mudblood. So I can curse your ugly"

"Ahem." 

Both Draco and Hermione turned to George, who placed two sundaes on the table. He frowned at Draco, vaguely recognizing him.

"Malfoy, right?" he asked. Draco didn't answer. Instead, he straightened and looked at Hermione. 

"Well, well. It appears I was wrong all along. You're not interested in Little Weasel, but it's Twin Weasel you're after." 

He looked at George. "What was it? Gilbert?" he said with a sneer.

"_George_." George retorted, giving Malfoy a look that didn't suit his cheerfully freckled face. George didn't really know the guy that well, but he had seen and heard the way he treated Hermione. Enough reason to dislike him. And, he suddenly remembered, this was the same slimy git that was always bothering Harry. On and off the Quidditch field. Famous for being Slytherin scum. George stood behind Hermione, who looked up at him with a baffled face. He glanced down at her, and for once, she saw George Weasley in a completely serious manner.

"Whatever," Draco drawled, "Gilbert, George. You've seen one Weasley, you've seen them all." 

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione sighed. "And I'm _not after anyone." she added angrily._

George gave her a friendly squeeze in her shoulder. Draco merely laughed haughtily. 

"Not that anyone would want you, Granger." he said bending forward once again, but George had leaned in, his head next to Hermiones and he faced Draco.

"I do believe she made it clear she wanted you to bugger off. Right 'Mione?"

Hermione nodded, silently and glared at Draco.

"There you have it." he said calmly, and grinned. "Honestly Malfoy, I'm sure a guy like you has much more interesting things to attend to."

Draco snorted. "Granger, I never understood what it is about you that makes guys hang around you. But it seems like you found yourself a new pet."

His gaze went from Hermione to George, who simply looked at him with a faint grin on his face and a challenging sparkle in his eyes. Draco smirked.

"Mudblood loves the Weasel." 

Without saying another thing, Draco turned around and walked towards the wizarding bank, where his mother, hidden in the shades, was waiting for him.

Hermione was furious, George could tell. He felt her shiver with anger, and kneeled in front of her.

"Well that was annoying," he smiled at her. "He wasted our time and now they melted." He glanced over at the two sundaes on the table, which had indeed melted in the hot August sun.

Hermione looked at them sadly, which caused George to frown.

"What's wrong, 'Mione? Don't tell me that Malfoy really got on your nerves like that."

She pulled her look away from the table and looked straight at George. To his surprise, there wasn't a small smile, or a sad face. Hermione looked at him with raised brows and angry eyes.

"What?!" he asked again.

"Why did you have to do that," she hissed. 

"You mean get rid of him for you?"

"I can handle myself George!" she snapped.

He blinked. "I never doubted that, I just thought.."

"No you didn't think, you just stepped right in and now he's going to pester me all year about you and me!"

"Me and you?" he repeated, pink shades appearing on his freckled cheeks.

"There is no you and me!" she said a bit louder and stood up. George looked at her, not understanding.

"Why are you acting like this, nothing happened!"

"Malfoy happened. And you!" she said, and pointed at him with a trembling finger. The situation wasn't funny at all, George figured, but the way Hermione looked at him with her hair all wild, her wrinkled robes and a slightly red face, made him grin.

"Stop doing that!" she yelled at him, and started collecting her belongings. 

"Doing what?" George exclaimed and watched how Hermione stuffed her book back in her bag. Where was she going? "And what the hell are you doing?"

"You should stop being so .. all over me, I don't need your protection, you're not my boyfriend George!" she said and moved her hand angrily through her hair. As always, George had the urge to take her hand away from it, because he liked her hair all wild and frizzy. But this time, he couldn't. 

"I never. .we're not.." he couldn't figure out where to start. 

"Malfoy thinks we are!" 

"He's a slimy .."

"So the whole school will think we are! And Harry and Ron, and .. just leave me, George!" she said, and looked around as if deciding where to go. She then turned around and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"'Mione!" he called, "Where are you going?!"

"Out!" she yelled over her shoulder, and left George standing there, next to the table with two melted sundaes in front of Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor. He stared at her, jaw dropped until he heard his brothers voice behind him.

"I don't know what you did, George, but you know you have to go and get her. Mom will kill you, and so will Ron and Harry," Bill told him. 

George turned to him and shook his head in confusion. "Did you just get anything of what she said?" he asked his older sibling. 

Bill shrugged. "She's a girl, George. _Whole different species." He pushed him in the direction Hermione had ran, and George fastened his pace._

_Stop being all over her?_ he thought. _I'm just spending time with her. I like spending time with her! _

He shook his head as he entered the Leaky Cauldron from behind. He nodded at Tom, who had frozen in the middle of cleaning a glass.  

"She went that way?" he said, confused and pointed at the door.

_Out! She's going to.. Damn her! _

He saw her robes on the ground and removed his as well, before leaving the pub. 

He couldn't help but wonder why she got so upset when he stood up for her. Everything went normal between them, before Malfoy showed up! George wondered why Malfoy's words, or his had upset Hermione so much.

When he ran outside the pub, a couple of muggles gave him an awkward look. He ignored them, and searched for any sign of Hermione.

"Daft girl," he muttered, "running around out here." 

He swore softly when he bumped into a man, and tried to look over his shoulder. There was no Hermione in sight. Loud music played from a store next to the Leaky Cauldron. George nearly fell in shock. When he realized what it was, he grinned.

"Dad is going to be jealous," he said out loud, and turned his head to the other side. The other store next to the pub was a bookstore. For a minute, George considered she could be in there, but one glance at the shopkeeper changed his mind. 

Then, he started to panic. If he hadn't hesitated and talked to Bill, he would've caught up with her already. Now, she was running around in Muggle London and he had no idea where to look. He sighed, looked up at a sign, and chose the direction he found most logical. A park.

Hermione groaned as she sat down under a tree. She wasn't supposed to walk on the grass, but no one seemed to notice her in the shades. She was damn lucky this park was close to the Leaky Cauldron, running with all those books didn't make it any easier.

Why did she run away in the first place? 

_George, obviously._ She sighed. Why did he had to stick up for her like that? She felt guilty, because he was protecting her. Because he liked her, and she didn't. He had been with her the entire day, and the entire Malfoy incident – him rubbing that in her face – just did it. She snapped. 

Stupid git. Bloody Malfoy. 

Stupid git. Bloody George.

She couldn't figure out which of the two had upset her the most. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, clutching her bag with books to her chest. Through the leaves of the tree, the sun shone on her face, warming it. She could remain like this for the rest of the afternoon. Safe, in the muggle world. Away from George, Malfoy, Bill, or Ron and Harry for that matter. 

Merlin, this summer turned out to be something different.

"Honestly, sir, I am not.. hey, would you not touch that?!" 

Her eyes opened and she looked behind the tree. A red haired guy, holding a _cauldron_ filled with books was talking to a police officer.

"Oh no." she whispered. George looked at a young boy who had grabbed a book from the cauldron.

"As I said, I'm not crazy, I just really need to find this girl." he told the officer. The man, with a big brow moustache raised a brow. 

"And might I ask you, young man, what _that_ is?" 

George looked at what he was carrying in his right hand. His eyes widened as if he had just realized he had been carrying a cauldron all this time. Even when the young boy had touched it, George didn't realize this was uncommon in the muggle world.

"I.. This is .." He grinned at the officer, but the man crossed his arms and tapped his feet impatiently.

"I asked a question, lad. What is this, and where did you get it. It looks old. Did you.. steal it?" 

He narrowed his eye as George's widened. 

"What, no! I'd never! This is mine!" 

Several people stopped to stare at George. Hermione had stood up and grabbed her bag again. She bit her lip. This was bad. People would remember this. This would end up with the Ministry. And it was _her fault!_

"I doubt it's yours. And what is it?"

"Look, I really need to find this girl, and"

"WHAT is it, young man!" 

"It's mine sir!" Hermione's nervous voice interrupted. George, by now a deep shade of red, could have hugged her.

"'Mione! I thought I'd" 

"Thanks for returning it to me, Forge." she said and gave him a warning glance. She saw how he frowned and then fully understood. He turned to the police officer, who was now staring at Hermione, and grinned.

"I told you I had to find 'Mione? This THING A MAGIGGER belonged to her!" he said happily and pushed the cauldron in Hermiones hands.

"Right Forge," she said, suddenly feeling the urge to smile, "We have to go."

"Hold on a minute," the officer raised his hands. "I'm quite confused, I must admit."

Hermione looked at him as if he were crazy. She nodded at George and at the cauldron. "He had to return this to me. And now he has. Now I can return it to my.."

"Grandmother!" George helped her. Hermione nodded.

The officer tried to look inside the cauldron with books. George noticed this and saw that the above book was one containing the history of magic, fully illustrated with a nice moving picture on the cover. He panicked and pulled off his shirt. 

"God it's hot outside, innit?!" he shouted, drawing the attention of the officer, Hermione – who stared at him with utter shock – and about 10 other people walking around. 

"Pardon me, young man?!" the officer exclaimed, not noticing how George used his t shirt to cover up the cauldron Hermione was carrying.

"Yes, yes, you are excused good sir!" he said and grabbed the cauldron with one hand, and Hermione's hand with his other.

"But, we have to dash. Grandmother is waiting, things to do. You know." 

Hermione nodded eagerly. "Y-yes, grandmother. Right, run along now Forge." she stammered, and both of them left the park as quickly as their legs could carry them.

In fact, they didn't stop there, they returned to Charing Cross Road and ignored everyone around them.

Hermione panted as they nearly reached the Leaky Cauldron, and looked at the half naked George.

"Why'd ya have to take your clothes off?!" she yelled. George shushed her and pushed her inside the Leaky Cauldron. Heads turned their way, and eyes fell upon Georges bare upper body, until Hermione handed him his robes with violence.

"On. Now." she ordered, and rested herself against the wall. The cauldron, covered with Georges t shirt, stood on the ground. Hermione closed her eyes shortly.

George was breathing heavily as well, standing next to her. When she opened her eyes again to look at him, he shrugged.

"Always wanted to walk half naked through London." he said.

Hermione gave a half smile. George looked at him from the corner of his eyes.

"Forge?" he then asked.

She now laughed, which put a smile on his face. "I had to think of something?"

George nodded. "Forge and Mione. They will remember that."

Hermione wasn't sure how to act. She wanted to laugh, but then remembered she was angry at them. But all of that was quickly forgotten when she realized what they had done. _They will remember that._

"The muggles." she said in shock. George looked at her, and then realized as well.

"Blimey, we're in for it now. They'll .. we'll hear from this."

"I'm going to get expelled!" Hermione shrieked. Georges faces paled. He thought quickly, an uncomfortable look on his face, then grabbed the cauldron once more and forced Hermione to come with him.

"We have to tell Bill, first." he said.

Hermione cringed. _"Bill?"****_

**OI! Couldn't leave out Bill, now, could I? *grin* Sooo, obviously, there will be severe punishment in the next chapter!  But first: thanking those who reviewed! As for my question in the last chapter, (which one of the twins is saner, which one is calm and which one isn't) I think everyone agrees with each other that George is less crazier, or a bit calmer. But I think I accidentally made George the goofiest and a clumsy one around girls and Fred the calm, MEGA PRANKTSER, self confident one. In my opinion, G/H is better than F/H, for no valid reason ^_^**

Calliandra – Thank you! For some reason, I've always thought George was the "calm" one too, but in the last chapter, I couldn't exactly figure out WHY I thought so. George. Available. Yummy. How I wish my Frecklehead was real :) 

Aindel S. Druida – I totally agree, pointless, haha. But I knew that, and I said it was necessary. Sort of. Anyway, I think this chapter is far less "pointless" , don't you agree? I'm reading the books again, right now, this time focusing on the twins and other characters. Blah, they don't get enough attention. Anyway, thanks!

cassgrl087 – thanks for your two reviews! I will check your fic out as soon as possible. For some reason, the name FRED bothers me more than George because I always have to think of Fred Flintsone. Eesh. I'm glad you agree with the couple! Stop reminding me they're not real. *sob* :D

DazedPanda – I just had to put that Flitwick part in it, *grin* I'm really really really glad you like the story! 

princess310889 – Hahaha, that's why I put that charms part in it ;) .. *can't resist puppy dog eyes* Thanks for reviewing! 

Spaced Out Space Cadet – I just can't get over the fact EVERYONE is cheering for a H/G .. I didn't realize it you don't see that pairing that often. WHILE THEY ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER! I know, I know, it's just something that makes George better for Hermy. Must be the name. Thanks for your review!

Xtreme Nuisance- Very glad you liked, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Thank you! 

hP fAn Fo LyFe - *huge grin* Thanks!

FredandGeorge4eva – I love ice cream too?!? Haha, happy moods are good. Glad you like the chapter. Hmm… you are really hyper, aren't you. Had to much sugar, right?! *grins* thanks for reviewing!

**Oh, and don't let ANYTHING stop you from reviewing again! Advice, compliments, praise, err.. I mean.. ANYTHING , just click that button! Thanks! **


	7. Chapter 7: Kissing him is that easy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. **

_"_In LONDON?!" 

For once, Bill didn't look calm or nice, he looked astonished. 

"George, honestly, and even without Fred!" he said.

"Hey, he's .." Hermione bit her lip. Did she even want to defend George? Especially towards Bill? George glanced at her, but knew she wouldn't be much help.

"He's what Hermione?" Bill asked her, sounding a bit friendlier.

"I.." She shook her head and Bill sighed.

"Leave it Bill," George told him, still looking pale. "What do we do now?"

"Merlin," Bill muttered and turned around. To Hermiones surprise both Harry and Ron stood a few feet away, as if they had been waiting. 

"Guys, here, now! We have to go." he called them, and turned to George and Hermione.

"Honestly you two, I hope this was worth it." 

She turned bright red when he continued.

"And I _really_ hope Mom and Dad will take this calmly." he said, and gave Hermione and George a little push. 

"At least 15 muggles!" Arthur Weasley's voice roared through the living room. 

Calm wasn't the right word for Arthur's reaction. In front of him sat George and Hermione, both facing the ground, and behind them a, surprisingly calm Bill. Molly Weasley took a deep breath.

"How could you do that George! London! During the day!"

"And half naked, too! As if the cauldron didn't draw enough attention!"

"Honestly, I'd never think that you.."

"It wasn't just him." Hermione interrupted them. Both of the Weasley parents looked at her, with disappointment and a certain hesitation. Slowly, Arthur nodded.

"You too, Hermione!" he said, a bit softer however. "You should've never left Diagon Alley! What got into you?"

Molly suppressed a loud sob. "I can't believe the two of you! Do you even realize the trouble your father will be in?"

"The Ministry will have to work overtime! As if we're not busy enough now that You Know Who has returned!"

Hermione felt miserable and continued to stare at the floor, with tears in her eyes.

George was still incredibly pale and his usual grin was nowhere to be seen. He noticed how Hermione was on the edge of crying and rested his hand on her knee.

She stiffened, but allowed him, while the two of them continued to listen to the rant.

"And you know there will be a punishment for this!" Arthur concluded.

Hermione's head rose to meet his eyes. Arthur noticed the tears. He swallowed.

"Will.. I .. _We be expelled?" _

"Of course no" George started in a weak attempt to comfort her, but his mother glared at him to silence him.

"Of course not Hermione" she said, not calling her 'dear' for once, but not yelling at her either, "Maybe the Ministry will go soft on you, considering your excellent results." She smiled faintly and turned to George.

"YOU, on the other hand," she said, "Do you realize how many strings we had to pull to get you back into Hogwarts! We had to beg to several people to take you and your brother back in!"

"And now," Arthur continued, "You've proven once again how immature you can be! I'm sorry George, Hermione, but if the Ministry won't punish you, we will!" 

George cringed, and saw how Hermione buried her head in her hands. He felt the need to hug her, but knew she, and his parents, would not want him to. He sighed when both of his parents left the room, and looked up at Bill. Bill was gazing down at them with a look that contained both disappointment and amusement. He rested his big hand on Hermione's shoulder. Neither of the boys noticed how well aware she was of the one hand on her knee and the other on her shoulder. It only made her want to cry louder.

Bill looked at his brother. "Honestly, George," he sighed, and George was about to give him a 'don't even start about it' look, when Bill continued "Fred will be proud." 

Both brothers grinned, until Hermione took a deep breath and whimpered on.

It was at that moment when Fred ran into the room, searching it quickly.

"They left?" 

Bill and George nodded. Fred beamed at his twin and shook his free hand. 

"Honestly dear brother, I wish I had been there. If only Ginny hadn't been ill, we'd.." he then noticed a crying Hermione and stopped shaking George's hand.

"Oi, Granger?" he said, but she just waved him off. 

"Not now Fred," he heard her mutter.

"'Mione," George whispered, "It's okay. Nothing will happen to you. And if my parents decide to punish you, they'll go easy on you, you're Hermione after all!"

When she looked up at him, her face was wet from the tears and her cheeks were bright red and burning. 

"It's not me I'm worried about," she sobbed, "It's you! Didn't you hear? If they find out, they might not let you back in school and it will be my entire fault!"

Fred kneeled down in front of her. "Your fault? How?" he asked, before George could warn him not to.

"Because it was me who left Diagon Alley in a hurry, so George had to come and look for me!" she nearly shouted.

Hermione felt a squeeze coming from Bill on her shoulder, saw how Georges thumb caressed her knee softly and Fred started patting her on her head awkwardly. She looked up to face a sympathizing Bill, who looked at her with friendly warm eyes. 

Then Hermione turned to George, who gave her a meaningful look of apology and had never looked so sorry in his life. Then Fred, who was grinning at her, in an attempt to cheer her up. Three freckleheads. One stupid muggle born. She burst out in tears once again.

The only good thing about the entire incident was that Harry and Ron started talking to her again. When Hermione sat outside the next morning, because she couldn't bother Ginny while she was ill, she saw Harry and Ron approaching. She didn't move, just watched as they stopped in front of her and looked at each other awkwardly.

"I .." Ron started with a head that matched the colour of his hair.

"_We_ are sorry, Hermione" Harry told her, and kneeled down. Ron sat down next to her and put his arm around her carefully. He knew that if she was still upset, she could hit him, hard.

But Hermione didn't hit him, nor did she ignore them. She sighed with a smile.

"I'm so glad you guys are talking to me again, I .. I never .." 

"We were just being stupid prats, Hermione," Ron told her. 

"We weren't jealous or angry at all, we just thought it would be.." Harry hesitated, "funny .. if we'd push you into the arms of the twins for a while.. They seemed so fond of you."

Hermione didn't even bother to respond to that and looked at Ron. "Are you sure you're not mad?" she asked softly.

"Positive," Ron assured her, "We heard everything from upstairs, too." he added.

Hermione closed her eyes, and turned redder. Harry stifled a laugh.

"Oh Hermione, that could have happened to anyone." he tried, but she looked at him.

"Sure, Harry. Everyone could have run away into a park, followed by a Weasley twin carrying a cauldron, then making a scene in the presence of a police officer. And of course, let's not forget, the minor detail of George removing his shirt!"

Hermione finished her sentence and realized how ridiculous it sounded. She smiled painfully.

"I.."

Ron beamed at her. "You're one of a kind, Hermione," he said. "Mom and Dad are just upset, because they've been so stressed out lately."

Harry nodded. "I'm sure Rons dad can fix this easily. I mean, how many people could've seen it?"

"Fifteen, at least." 

"Oh." 

"Wow," Ron grinned. 

Hermione punched his arm playfully before sighing deeply, relieved. 

"I'm glad I can talk to you guys again. It's been so dull lately."

"Not all the time, right?" Harry said, a mysterious smile on his face. 

She frowned, "I don't know what you're saying." 

"Oh come on!" Ron said, "I know you had _some fun, with Fred and George, _and _Bill." he winked._

"Nothing happened with Bill!" she exclaimed. Both boys raised a brow.

"We never said it did.." Harry said carefully, then grinned. 

"But admit it, you and George had a good time yesterday, right?"

Hermione sighed. These boys were a pain in the ass. Okay, so she did have fun yesterday, to a certain extend. There was the fact she was left with him, forced to spent time with him alone. But then they found out they had similar interests and they talked for a long time about Charms and school. But then there was the Malfoy incident and the moment where Hermione lost it. The chase through London, the scene in the park. 

_Mione__ and Forge.___

A small smile played on her face. If everything hadn't been so damn complicated and if things hadn't gone out of hand, it would have been extremely funny. She nodded, reluctantly.

"All right, I admit it." she told her two best friends. "Your brother isn't a complete prat. He's actually quite nice." 

A bad feeling crept over her, however, when she realized they were still in for trouble. After their first letter from the Ministry last night, she still hadn't heard anything else. Arthur and Molly Weasley were working on it, they told her this morning. 

"Do you think.. George won't be allowed at school?" 

Ron thought for a second, but then smiled at her. "I think the Ministry prefers the Weasley twins at Hogwarts than outside in the wizarding world."

Hermione looked at Harry just to be sure, but he looked a tad bit nervous. She sighed again.

"What about your parents?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, Hermione, you're you! They can't stay angry at you, you'll probably have to degnome the garden or something, just for their conscience." 

That made Hermione feel slightly better, and when Harry and Ron left ("Quidditch with Fred, you sure you don't want to come?") a smile was stuck on her face. She wasn't alone for long, however.

When Harry and Ron walked back inside the house, they nodded at George.

"She's all right, now," Harry told him, "Thanks for telling us.. you know."

George nodded, and looked outside. "You think she'll want to see me now?"

Ron gave him a look. "If not now, than never." he said, still not believing his brothers thoughts about Hermione.

George ruffled his brother's hair with an evil grin before he stepped outside. Hermione had closed her eyes and was enjoying the morning sunshine. He liked her just the way she sat there. Her hair frizzled, her cheeks slightly red, she held her robes tightly to protect her from the cold wind, and she had a inexplicable look on her face. It made him want to hug her, again.

"Those eyes better not be teary when they open." he said softly.

She opened her eyes, but they looked happily at him. "I'm not crying, don't worry." she told him. George was a bit surprised to find out she seemed perfectly calm.

"So Forge," she said softly, and smiled at him, "how's … are you okay?" 

He sat next to her and frowned. "Why wouldn't I be? I wasn't the one crying last night," he said, "My dearest Mione." he added with a grin.

She put on her serious face again. "I'm really worried about the punishment, George, what if.." 

He shook his head and she stopped talking. "That's what I wanted to tell you. A letter arrived, this morning. You know how quick the Ministry is with these things."

Hermione nodded, and remembered how Harry always immediately received a message from the Ministry whenever he misused magic. She looked at George, eagerly awaiting the outcome.

"We're in luck," he started and Hermione sighed, "You and I will not be expelled, as long as Dad takes care of the muggles." 

The starting smile of Hermione faded. "Oh, he has to do it all by himself? It's not even his job!" 

"Not by himself, Bill is helping him, and so is Mom. This is where our punishment comes in. I had to swear to Dad we would do everything he asked from us. He has to work overtime, and won't have any time to do any of the chores Mom thought of during the year." 

"Chores?" Hermione asked, fearing the worst. She gulped when George nodded and grabbed a long piece of parchment, with an even longer list of chores. Her eyes glanced over the list. 

"Clean the house, including the attic," she moaned, "Degnome the garden, find herbs at the paddock, _clean the shed?!?_" 

She glanced over to the house and the shed, filled with enchanted – and most likely illegal – muggle things. 

"Is that even safe?" she asked George. He laughed.

"I doubt that they worry about our safety at this moment." he told her and was surprised to see Hermione stand up and rub her hands. 

"Well then," she extended one hand and offered it to George, "What do you want to do first?" 

George took her hand in his, and stood up, not letting go. 

_Easy now, George.__ Just, casually hold that hand. Don't squeeze, don't panic, make joke! Joke! _

He couldn't think of a joke, instead he just smiled. "I say we go to the shed." 

"Oh wonderful, George, just wonderful!" she replied.

He rolled his eyes with a broad smile and pulled her with him. He felt her slowing down and tugging at his hand, so he stopped.

"What?" 

"I'm just glad you won't be in trouble now." she said. 

"Let's _go." _

"Honestly! Even Neville Longbottoms trunk is tidier than this!" Hermione exclaimed.

George gave her a look. "You mean that clumsy kid in your year?" 

"He's not clumsy," Hermione said with a frown, "He's just.. unlucky." And with that she turned back to the mess. The shed didn't seem large from the outside, but Hermione should have known that the inside was enchanted, and was several times bigger. The Ford Anglia Ron and Harry used in their second year, had stood here for a long time. All Hermione saw now were random muggle objects.

"Is this a Weasley trait?" she asked George, referring to the mess in there.

"No, this is the only place Mom doesn't come." George replied with an amused look on his face.

"To be honest, I don't think any of us has been here before. Charlie or Bill maybe." 

George walked to the table where a radio, a flashlight and a large amount of batteries lied. 

"Wow, cool!" he said excitedly and pushed one of the buttons on the radio. It did nothing.

"Oh no.." Hermione said and pulled him away from the table. "Your father messed with those things and I'm not sure if I trust them anymore."

He laughed. "Fair enough, but what _are_ they?" 

Hermione looked at the table. She picked up the flashlight. 

"This is a flashlight. We.." she coughed, "Muggles use it in the dark, to find our way, or to search for something."

"Like we use our wands?" 

She nodded. "Ten points to Gryffindor Mr. Weasley," she grinned.

"'Mione, no school, not now!" he said shaking his head. "Although.. I was never interested in muggle studies, but this stuff.."

He picked the radio up again and studied it. 

"What's this? What does it do?" 

"You sound like an eight year old."

"I know, but tell me!" 

"George, I'd love to tell you, if you would just put it down, you might.. start something." she told him nervously.

"Oh come on 'Mione, where's your sense of adventure?"

Glare.

"Oh.. all right." he said reluctantly and put the radio back. "Just one button!" 

And he pushed the wrong one. Loud screams (or was it music?) suddenly tormented their ears. Hermione cringed, George dropped the radio on the table.
    
    **_"Every little thing she does is magic!!"_**
    
    "George, shut it off!!!" Hermione roared above the music, covering her ears.
    
    **_"Everything she do just turns me on!!"_**
    
    George simply looked at the device in awe. "Listen!!" he yelled.
    
    Hermione nodded. "I'M NOT DEAF!" 
    
    "What?!" George frowned at her.
    
    "I'M NOT DEAF!" she shouted. "YET!" 
    
    George suddenly laughed, really loud. 
    
    **_"Even though my life before was tragic!!!!"_**
    
    "This is hilarious!" George yelled through laughter. Hermione took the radio and pushed the 'off' button. Nothing happened. Suddenly, George took the radio in his hands as well.
    
    **_"Now I know my love for her goes on!!!"_**
    
    "No!" he told her, "I like it!"
    
    They started pulling at both ends of the radio, Hermione glaring at him, George laughing nearly as loud as the music.
    
    "Let GO!" she yelled, and he did. She fell back against the wall and groaned.
    
    "You.. dumbass." she muttered and searched for her wand.
    
    **_"Every little thing she does is magic!!"_**
    
    "SHUT UP!" she yelled, and then, with a wave of her wand: "**Silencio**!"
    
    Silence returned in the shed, and both George and Hermione stared at each other. Hermione grinned at him, as she tried to get up. Only then, George noticed he was responsible for her being on the ground.
    
    "Oh hell," he said and walked up to her, grabbing her hand. "Up you go, sorry about that." he said with a stifled laugh.
    
    Hermione punched him playfully. "There, silence. I prefer silence." she nodded happily.
    
    "Oh really?" George asked.
    
    "Really." 
    
    "Then I don't understand how you can be around me, since I'm one of the loudest Weasley's,"
    
    "Or wizards," Hermione helped him.
    
    "Around, thank you very much."
    
    "George, you're like a freckle. You can't get rid of it, you just have to get used to it."
    
    He laughed and move his face closer. "Are you comparing me to a freckle?" he said, quirking a brow.
    
    "Well, you _are a frecklehead," she replied with a playful smile, noticing how she was still holding his hands._
    
    _Why am I doing this? Let go, 'Mione, let go. Wait. Do I want to let go? Why am I talking about his freckles?_
    
    She blinked, and looked in his cheerful eyes.
    
    "Well miss Muggle born," he whispered, "Are you used to me yet?"
    
    And suddenly, when she looked at the frecklehead in front of her, with a small grin on his face and a strong hand in hers, she had that same little thought again.

_He is so close I can easily kiss him._

So for once, screwing all logics, she did was that little voice told her. She tugged at his hand, and George leaned in, about to say: "What the.." when her lips cut him off. 

Kissing him was **that** easy.

**Oh sure, I know. This is like the 124092339th fic ending with that stupid line. Always leaving you guys with the "NOW WHAT????" question. Well, now A LOT! Haha, this is faaar from the end, and I felt like ending this chapter here, because else the magic of the moment is gone. Haha, the next chapter should be up in a few days, and I want 70 reviews by then people! Ok, so I will put the damned chapter up anyway, but I'd LOVE to have 70 reviews AT LEAST! *wink wink nudge nudge* **

**Ok,**** and the thank yous go to:**

**Catgril52 – **So maybe Fred and George were dating in Hogwarts, I wasn't really aware of that *shrugs* Anyway, in THIS fic they're not, because I'm have that kind of power :)  I like Ron too, but, it's George. Haha. GEORGE. 

**princess310889 – **I liked the picture of Half Naked George (HNG!!!) in my mind as well.. I personally loved that part too, hehe. Thanks so much for your review!

**Dazed Panda – **Yay, everyone likes HNG and the cauldron! Haha, I updated! Dance! ^_^ thanks for reviewing!

**Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's – **Bill/Mione action you say? Hmmm.. I could.. try. But eventually this is George/Mione, realize that. But Bill's fun to play with though ;) Thanks for the review!

**tripchick – **Holy crap I UPDATED! I'm SO glad you thought this fic was worth reading! You called this one a decent story! Haha, that's more than I deserve! THANKS!

**FredandGeorge4eva – **All I can say is THANK YOU, sugar rocks and I love it that you love my story! 

**cassgrl087 – **I know exactly what you mean. School is an unpleasant interruption of fanfic reading. And writing -.-  Thanks for reading mine though!

**hP fAn Fo LyFe – **THANKS!

**Gwen Potter – **You are forgiven for not reading and reviewing. I'm glad you like the story so far :D I'm throwing in that romance now.. but.. drama will follow soon! Or.. Bill. One of the other *shrugs* Thanks again! 

**Bebe** doll – **Hahaha, you rock! Thank you sooo much for your nice review AND email! I will continue, I just did, don't worry! G/H ALL THE WAY! And I'll you're your fics asap ! ******

**Psst**. Review !!!!****


	8. Chapter 8: There' something about George

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters related. **

_So I promised to update in a few days and it became a week and a few days ! ^_^ I had a terrible cold, so I was banned from the computer. But the fic isn't done yet! So here's the next chapter! Thanks for waiting!_

George was surprised, to say the least. But he realized, it was indeed _Hermione who was kissing him. His fingers played with hers as he brought his other hand up to her face. He pressed his lips against hers, as he buried his hands in her hair and gently pulled her head closer to his._

Before he knew it, Hermione had placed her arms around his neck and – to his surprise – slid her tongue along his lip, deepening the kiss. For a moment he thought this to be wrong, _he should have been the one taking the lead in this, but he got lost in his thoughts when she stroke his neck with her thumb.  _

She then pulled back, eyes still closed.

"I.." she muttered and paused for a moment. He nudged her with a mischievous grin and leaned in for another kiss. She smiled when his tongue tickled her lips, but just when he wanted to deepen the kiss, the obvious happened.

"Ahem." 

George stopped in his movements, and his already red head became redder. His eyes locked with Hermione's for a brief second, until both pairs turned to the door.

Hermione could have handled anyone. Ginny, Ron or Harry, even though it would have been a bit awkward. Mr. or Mrs. Weasley, _even_ Fred, but not him. Her hand, still resting on Georges shoulder dropped when she faced a grinning Bill.

"I obviously interrupted something." he said, not looking the slightest bit sorry. "Sorry about that, kids." He winked at Hermione.

"Why Bill, you are so clever," George told his brother with a grin. Hermione just blushed, and didn't know what to think.

Of course it had to be Bill who caught them. Caught them kissing! And then she realized it was her who had kissed him. She looked at George, who glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He flashed her a smile but then looked at his brother.

Hermione felt weak in her knees. Did she just make a huge mistake by kissing him? It was good, though. She blinked. Good? Blimey, if Bill hadn't interrupted it would have been even better. 

But Bill DID interrupt. And now she stood here, next to George Weasley, who she just snogged in the shed.

She snapped back to reality. Bill first, then George.

"Can we help you with something Bill?" she asked him bluntly.

"Actually, I just came to check on you. You know, to see if you were actually working and not," his grin grew, "busy doing other things." 

George's grin matched Bills. "Caught red handed, then, aren't we? Sorry to disappoint you, my dear brother, but you know how it is.." 

Bill shrugged. "I probably do, but this, Georgy, is about you. And Hermione, of course," he said in a calm voice.

"Yes, I couldn't let a fine catch like 'Mione get away, could I?"

This time, it was Hermione's turn to look at George. What was he on about?

George laughed nervously. He could feel Hermione's stare and was looking at his oldest brother who frowned at him. He felt that most uncomfortable feeling again. He was _nervous._

_You just kissed Hermione, George. Or.. well, she kissed you. Don't screw this. Bill… I'm going to KILL you._

Bill coughed. "Well, yes, I'm going away with Mom and Dad, fixing a certain.. you know what." he gave them a meaningful look.

"Yes, we know." Hermione muttered.

"You should hurry up, the sooner that list is done the better, guys." he said, smiling. "I'll help out if I get home early, Hermione and I can fold laundry or something." 

"NO!" 

They stared at her. She shrugged.

"I mean, that's okay, Bill. You go ahead, me and Forge.. I mean GEORGE!" she gasped and ignored Georges chuckle, "We'll clean this mess up and work at the list."

"The lady's right, dear old brother." 

"Shut up, George," Hermione told him and glared at Bill. He nodded, bowed a little with a smile and turned around. When he stepped outside she heard him mutter:

"I know when I'm not wanted." before he closed the door with a chuckle.

"Later kids!" he yelled before his footsteps faded.

Hermione could strangle him. But she just made sure he went away, so it was impossible. Still, she was simply furious! Why? 

Because he interrupted the perfect moment, that's why. She was perfectly fine with the perfect kiss until he had to disturb them. And witness them. That was the part that bothered her the most. He saw her kissing George. 

She was trying to accept the fact there was _something about George_ that made her feel funny inside, but she did not need Bill to be there as well. 

Suddenly, she felt his hand on her shoulder, and he touched a string of her hair. She shrugged his hand off and looked at him.

"Don't, George" she told him.

He was taken by surprise, she could tell. For a moment, his brows quirked but he decided to give her a playful smile instead.

"What, 'Mione, was the kiss that bad?" 

He looked at her, in a way that made her shiver. It was just as the moment right before she decided to kiss him. 

"No." she admitted, and gave a shy smile. "You know it wasn't." She cursed herself inwardly for blushing. But hey, the Weasley in front of her did just the same. 

She allowed him to pull her in his arms and stared at his chest. He wasn't George, the redheaded hyperactive older brother of Ron, he was this guy, with cute freckles decorating his lovely face. He always smiled at her, and his eyes looked at her with admiration, fascination. 

It was all of that combined that had pushed her over the edge, and made her kiss him. That, and the way he could make her feel.

_He annoys you 'Mione._

But he didn't just annoy her. He also made her laugh, and wanted to make her feel better.

George, overcoming his own fears, lifted her chin and wanted to kiss her, but she shook her head.

"No way, George," she said, and stepped back. "We have to clean this!"

He gaped at her. "Now?" 

"Yes, now!"

"But Hermiooooone." he whined, but she silenced him with a glare.

And to George's frustration, she practically ignored him while they cleaned up the shed. Even when George tried to break the silence by turning on the radio again, Hermione simply waved her wand and muttered: "**Silencio****" again.**

By the end of the afternoon, thanks to Hermione's skills, the shed was organized and as clean as possible. But every attempt George had made to talk to Hermione had failed. She looked extremely distressed.

"Well, Hermione," he said, looking around, "We did a fine job." 

He nodded approvingly and grinned at her. She gave a faint smile. 

"I'm hungry." she said. She could be telling the truth, it was way past lunchtime already. But somehow George had the feeling she was using that as an excuse to get away from him. He really had trouble understanding _why_ however.

"'Mione?" he said and grabbed her arm. He gave her a pleading look, which only caused her to blush.

"Oh, George," she sighed, "Let go off me, will you?" 

He did, deciding it would be better to lay off her. For _once _he did was she told him to do. And Hermione left the shed, with the silenced radio, a trash can filled with broken Muggle equipment and a very confused George.

"Granger?" 

It was Fred. Hermione just put away the last set of plates, glanced over at him, and recognized the other twin.

"What is it Fred?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Huh?" she blinked. Fred sat down and looked at her, raising his brows.

"You see, I have this twin, who has been incredibly distant lately."

She sighed and sat down in front of me. "And this has to do with me... what?" 

"You're a smart girl, you know what I'm talking about!" Fred sounded serious, but his face still held the friendly look. 

It reminded her of George, obviously, but ever since she found out how to keep the two apart, more and more small differences turned up. Fred's hair was less messy, his smile was different, more mockingly, and there was a certain glint in his eye, something that made him a lot more mischievous than George. 

He also made her less nervous.

"Ok, so what did he tell you." she sighed in defeat.

"Not much, that's the problem! See, you're a great girl, really I think you're a star. But I think my dear brother has taken it a step further, because you are all he thinks about."

She raised a brow and looked at him. "Is it that bad?"

He grinned. "Oh believe me, it's that bad! George doesn't have crushes!" he snickered shortly as if he just told the best joke ever. Then he couched and continued.

"But Granger, he followed you in London, took his shirt off and begged his parents to ask the Ministry to go easy on you."

Suddenly, the frown on her face made place for a grin as well and Fred snapped his fingers at her.

"You see? I hit a soft spot! You like him!" his eyes now held something triumphal. She hated it when he did that.

Before she could say anything, she felt how her cheeks revealed the answer. Hermione bit her lip.

"Fred, I swear, if you say a _thing.."_

"Oh, it's worse than that, isn't it!" he said, now sitting up straight and beaming at her.

"Hermione," he took her hands, "You snogged my twin brother in the shed!"

"I SWEAR IF BILL TOLD YOU I WILL KILL HIM NOW!"

Fred dropped her hands and looked at her. He was still looking very happily but his eyes looked at her questionably. And then it seemed to hit him.

"You snogged George in the shed and Bill caught you!" he said, "Oh, I am going to write a book about this, it's that good!" 

He paused, saw how Hermione turned into a tomato and then laughed. "Please tell me it was just a snog, nothing m"

"Fred Weasley, it was _just a snog_!" she told him hastily.

He coughed, trying to stop another laughter so it turned into a snort and then looked at her again.

"All right, so what's the deal? You two didn't look so cozy at dinner, and right now, he's not acting George like at all!" 

"Yeah, well it's because I'm .. well.." 

"Stupid?"

She glared at him, but then she hesitated and nodded. "Yeah, very stupid."

"Yes, well, you see, we really _enjoy life and prefer to be cheerful and all that. It's not that much fun to see George being far for cheerful. I reckon it's even less funnier for him."_

He paused, and Hermioen was surprised at how serious he sounded. Of course, this could be one big joke. Or it could be Fred, worried about his brother. She desperately hope none of the other Weasleys, or Harry would interrupt their conversation here.

"So what's wrong with him, then?" she heard Fred ask.

_He is not asking me this! I am not answering this!_

"Nothing." she sighed.

He winked. "You're just stunned by our great looks, am I right?"

"Hardly!" she laughed and Fred nodded happily.

"At least I made you smile again. He likes that, you know."

"Who?" Hermione asked. "Oh, George."

"Yes, he goes on and on. 'Don't you think 'Mione's smile is pretty? Isn't 'Mione smart? 'Mione really told that officer off, in London. 'Mione 'Mione 'Mione." Fred rolled his eyes.

She gaped at him. "Are.. you serious, Fred?"

"Never. But this is the truth." he grinned.

"Merlin, never realized he was .."

"That obsessed over you?"

"Stop finishing my sentences Fred!"

"Hook up with my brother Granger."

They looked at each other, and Fred's eyes twinkled. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but realized she didn't know what to say.

He was right, she had no reason to be a total bitch towards George, _after SHE kissed him. She had kissed him, then Bill caught them and she totally ignored George after that. _

Bloody Bill. Bloody Fred. Bloody George.

She rolled her eyes, stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

"Tell George to get up early tomorrow, we need to collect herbs." she told Fred and left.

Fred, alone at the kitchen table whistled softly. "Whatever you say Granger."

With a yawn he stretched out and shook his head. "Georgy boy, I don't understand why you like her _that_ much."

A flesh coloured string moved, George appeared in the kitchen and sat next to his brother. He grinned.

"Let's just say that for a so called bookworm, she's a bloody excellent kisser."

Fred laughed. "You owe me for this extendable ears thing I set up. If you didn't have me, dear brother,"

"I'd always have Ron, Bill, Charlie and Gin Gin." George replied and stood up again.

_Yes! It doesn't end here! I just decided that it would be toooo easy to kiss and be happy. So I'm going to have George annoy her a bit more. And then I'm going to let Hermy take full control. Gah, they make me sick they're so cute together, haha. I suppose this chapter was a bit.. not funny and cute, but IN GOOD TIME, people, IT WILL GET BETTER! Sorry for waiting again and …THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! ___

**THANK YOU : **AlienSmile13**, **HogwartsHeadGirl1, Amy85, hP fAn Fo LyFe, ThePeppermintStripes, princess310889, Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's, Aindel S. Druida****

Sapphire Butterfly – Hey, it was SUPPOSED to be funny, and I wrote a whole new chapter instead of one more sentence! Good enough?! :P

AlabamaBabe – Haha, YES I know, it took them long enough to kiss, but that's me, the evil author, I suppose! Thanks! 

dgfghh – Glad you thought it was adorable! Hermione WAS a bitch, wasn't she? She just turned out to be one, for no reason. *shrugs* Someone has to act hard to get, right?

cassgrl087 – haha, cheesy endings are the best, I suppose ;) I'm actually quite curious about that Angelina/Fred story of yours, I really like Fred/George and those Gryffindor girls for some reason. Anyway, glad you had the time to read my story, life can be a bitch sometimes! THANK YOU! 

lollipop-princess – REMEMBER: Bill is there to be cute and annoying. GOOD annoying, in that funny sweet Bill kind of way. Don't mess with Bill, he's my sex slave. Or.. will be, anyway! 

Calliandra – I'm glad you think I portrayed George in the right way! And I'm aware I had an evil cliffy. Hehe, hope you liked the new chapter though! 

Gwen Potter – ROMANCE IS GOOD!! Yes, I reckoned I should get to the kissing part soon, so I made them snog in the shed, hehe. You have no idea how long it took for me to figure out HOW I would continue this fic, I'm just messing around, to be honest. So yes, punishment. As in George/Hermione torture, co starring Fred and Bill! (I love them Weasleys!) I know it took me longer than promised to update, but that wasn't because of the amount of reviews. I got lots more! THANKS! 

Spaced Out Space Cadet – Nice and fluffy, eh? Good! Yes, Hermy HAD to choose sometime, and I think I always had George in mind. Somehow, he's the best pick ;-D Though there was a lot of Fred interaction in this chappy too. He felt left out, hehe.  :P

DazedPanda – Those lyrics are from Sting.. or the Police, or well, both of them anyway! Yes, "Every little thing she does is magic" just popped up in my head, and I used it! Glad you liked it then! Thank you for reviewing! 

FredandGeorge4eva – awww I hope your life doesn't suck anymore! (that sounds retarded yes, but I mean it) and that your friend is.. well.. nicer to you :) Here's another (rather depressing ) chapter to cheer you up! I had the sudden urge to sing "YOU WOULD CRY TOO IF IT HAPPENED TO YOU!" after reading your review, haha. Thank YOU for reading! lol


	9. Chapter 9: Hermione gives in

Hermione turned in her sleep and slowly realized she was waking up. 

"Hnn..no." she managed to bring out and buried her face in her pillow. She had no idea what time it was, nor was she interested. Her sleep was nice and she was tired. It didn't take long, however, before she felt the sun shisning on her. 

"No," she mumbled and stretched in her bed. She didn't want to get up just yet. Her dream had been so nice. It had made her feel like she was floating. It had been the three of them in her dream, Ron and Harry and her. She saw flashes of the past, a Quidditch she already witnessed before, the Yule ball she went to with Viktor and her previous year at Hogwarts. Just the three of them, like always.

She opened her eyes and squinted at the light. That wasn't exactly true. In her dream the others had been there. Parvati and Lavender had been giggling at her, and Draco Malfoy had laughed at her. She couldn't exactly remember why.

No, she could. It was because of George. In her dreams she remembered all the times she had seen him at school and had barely noticed him. The Quidditch games were always about Harry, weren't they? She hardly ever paid attention to George. And the Yule ball, in her fourth year she only had eyes for Harry, Ron and Viktor. Not the twins, not George. 

Figures, she thought. Even in her sleep George haunts her. She had been thinking, before she fell asleep. About him, obviously. After her talk with Fred she came to realize that he was right and that she _did fancy George._

She giggled at the thought. She fancied George! She had a crush! Hermione Granger doesn't have a crush! She doesn't pay attention to boys!

Well, sure, Viktor was an exception.

But she had been thinking _why George was so crazy about her. Had she changed at all? Her hair was just ass messy, she was just as skinny as before. She had grown, sure, and she wasn't a little girl anymore. But there were other girls, so much more prettier than she was. She always thought George would end up with Alicia, Angelina. Or even Katie. One of the Quidditch girls. _

What did they have in common, anyway? 

A lot, actually. She found that out in the past couple of days at the Burrow. And they had been through a lot, even though they never even noticed each other.

Hermione sat up straight in bed with a determined face. This was one of those things you couldn't explain. She just had to give up reason and accept the fact that sometimes you just feel the way you feel.

And then there was the thing with Bill. Or actually, there wasn't anything with Bill. Hermione made a face. She just had to accept it, she was a teenager. And Bill was very handsome and cute and nice. But he wasn't interested in her that way, and neither was she! She couldn't believe she had the thought of kissing him.

Ok, so actually she could. But it was impossible, anyway. And if she had done it.. Disaster. No, last night she decided that Bill was just a foolish thought (yes, even she had foolish thoughts, unfortunately). And George? For somer reason she thought that George was more than a foolish thought. Of course, George was an excellent kisser too, so that helped.

With a sigh she sank back in bed and stared at the window. The sun stood high already and a pleasant warm feeling came over her. It was a lovely day to go out and..

"OH!" Immediately, she sat straight up again and brought a hand to her head. "I forgot! I was supposed to be up this morning gathering herbs with.."

A soft tap disturbed her.

"George?"

She looked at the window again and discovered the source of the sound. It wasn't George. It was something else. A purple owl with yellow spots tapped against the glass, trying to get in. Hermione opened the window and stared at the owl. It hooted softly at her, the expression in his beautiful eyes seemed almost sad.

"Zeus!?" she exclaimed. It was George's owl, she knew, but it looked different than the other time she had seen it. A couple of days ago, it had been a normal owl. Now it looked more like a clown. She smiled, without noticing it. 

"He actually listened to me." she said amused, thinking back of her comments about Zeus being to ordinary for a Weasley owl. George had looked at her with a misschievous glint in his eyes. The result of that conversation now stood in front of her. It appeared Zeus wasn't too happy with the change.

"You poor thing, I can't believe he did that to you," she said, but she couldn't hide her amusement as she stroked its feathers. Carefully, she took the letter from the owl, realizing it must be a note from George.

_Good afternoon sunshine! I hope you had some pleasant dreams, it was impossible to wake you up earlier today!_

Hermione stiffled a yawn and looked outside again. So it was noon already, lovely. Hermione hated being late.

_Don't you think Zeus looks absolutely stunning? It was your idea, of course. I'm not really sure if he's used to his new colour, however._

He had drawn a smiley face after the last sentence, making Hermione laugh softly.

_I just thought I'd send him up to your room and wait for you to wake up. Thought you might wanted to know that I already degnomed the garden with Harry this morning, since he seems to enjoy it so much. And I just finished the list with herbs mum left us to gather. So aside from a couple of chores we have to do before we go back to school _(A sad smiley face between brackets filled up the space),  _our punishment is as good as done! Mum and dad never were good at thinking of good punishments! So you're lucky, you don't have to spend the rest of the day with me. I think I'll be playing some Quidditch with Fred, Ron, Ginny and Harry. We made you breakfast, since Mum didn't make us any this morning._

_Forge_

Slightly disappointed Hermione looked up from the letter. But when she saw Zeus picking his purple feathers she couldn't help but laugh. So George did all the chores already and their punishment was over! That was good news indeed. But it didn't exactly cheer her up. It was _their punishment and he did all the work. They were supposed to do it together._

She had actually been looking forward to it.. And especially the end of the letter didn't make her feel better. _You're lucky, you don't have to spend the rest of the day with me. It looked like she had finally convinced him that she didn't want him around. When she finally decided that she __did._

"Hermione, you can be such a bitch." she told herself angrily and folded the letter. Then, she noticed that there was a small bit scribbled on the back of the letter. Curiously, she unfolded the piece of paper and read the small P.S.

_If you still want some company, meet me at the paddock this afternoon. I'll promise, there will be no enchanted radio and I'll keep the shirt on._

For some reason Hermione could almost see the grin on his face as he wrote that last part. She turned around and made her bed, almost singing out loud. She was going to the paddock this afternoon, would ignore the stupid jokes George could make and apologize for how she had been acting.

"Yes!" she cheered and watched how Zeus flew out of her window again. The purple owl made the smile on her face even bigger.

This was probably the sixteenth time George wasn't paying attention. Ron didn't count, but Ginny did. He looked at his little sister who was flying near him and she nodded.

"Seventeenth time," she said, "I swear, if this was war he would've been killed thirty times already."

Ron raised a brow at that comment and looked at his older brother. George was already focusing on the game again and hadn't noticed his siblings were getting quite annoyed with him.

"George, why are you constantly looking at the Burrow? We're losing!!" Harry yelled angrily at him.

George turned slightly red but shrugged. "Relax Harry, I'll pay attention, we haven't lost yet!"

"Ah, _yet_ is exactly the right word dearest brother!" Fred laughed as he snatched the Quaffle from him. "But it won't be long before this game is over."

Fred flew past Ginny and scored another point, to Ginny's annoyance. "Harry, I want to switch teams! George isn't doing his best!"

Harry sighed and looked at George who simply lifted his hands in an apologetic manner. He saw how Fred and Ron high fived in the air and grinned at him.

"Something distracting you, George?" Fred yelled at him.

"Or should we say someone?" Ron added with a huge grin, causing Ginny to giggle.

George felt his cheeks redden and increased his speed to catch up with his twin. "Funny, Ron, really funny!" he told his younger brother.

Ron shrugged, he didn't really care that George wasn't playing at his best, they were winning! He looked in the direction of the Burrow like George had been doing the last seventeen times and saw a tiny figure walking this way. He raised his hands and waved.

Hermione, from far away, waved back. She was carrying a basket which looked rather heavy, and once she came near where the others were playing, she dropped the basket with a sigh. 

"Hi Ron!" she yelled and waved again. Ron grinned at Harry, who waved at Hermione as well. And just at that point George was able to score a point, because Ron wasn't paying attention. Ginny cheered as the game ended and flew towards Hermione.

"Take that, little one!" George laughed at Ron, who turned red. 

"Little one? I'm taller than you are, you oaf!" 

George shrugged and steered his broom down, "Whatever, little brother!"

When they all landed, Fred dropped his broom and stamped over to Hermione, looking quite upset. "Granger!"

"Hi Fred," Hermione laughed uncomfortable, when she saw the look on his face. Fred shook his head and glared at her.

"I thought you were a distraction to George, since when are you distracting members of MY team as well!"

"Well, you Weasleys just are irresistible, aren't you?" Hermione retorted almost angrily.

"You brought food?" Fred barked back.

"Yes!" 

"Then you are forgiven, where is it?" 

And with that, he walked past Hermione who shook her head. "You guys.." 

"Excellent, Hermione," Ron said happily, "You really brought food!"

"Yeah," Hermione shrugged, "Since I slept in today and you made guys made me breakfast I owed you."

"Oh, we didn't make you breakfast," Ginny said as she grabbed an apple, "That was George, all by himself."

As the others laughed, Hermione looked at George who gave her a smile and pointed at his shirt. Hermione turned slightly red, but then laughed. The T-Shirt was on, yes.

"So who won?" Hermione asked in a weak attempt to start a conversation with him. She sat down, George followed her example, laughing. He he seemed to think for a second and shook his head. His hair was messy and his forehead was covered with brown freckles. To her own shock, Hermione thought it looked rather cute.  
"I don't really know," George confessed, "I wasn't really paying attention."

"No, he wasn't," Ron said loudly, "He kept looking at the Burrow, wondering when you would show up," he said and took a bite from his sandwhich.  
"Ron, don't!" Ginny giggled as she saw the look on Hermione's face.

"Thanks, Ron," George told his brother, giving him a knowing look. "Toss me a muffin, will you?"

Ron threw a muffin and turned around to talk to Harry. As George caught the muffin he looked from his siblings to Hermione and grinned. 

"Don't you want to sit with .. them?" He asked carefully.

Hermione looked at Ron and Harry who seemed perfectly fine by themselves and remembered Georges letter.

"Not really," she said calmly, "I got this lovely letter from a purple owl, and I am sure it was an invitation signed by Forge, asking me to come here."

As she kept talking and George kept looking at her, she began to feel slightly uncomfortable. "So here I am." she said, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah," George said happily, "I'm glad you came, too, I was worried you were really cross with me."

To her surprise, she saw how George was plucking at the muffin. It was almost unbelievable, but it seemed as if George Weasley was nervous. Then, when Hermione glanced at the others and noticed how they were pretending not to listen, she stood up.

"Look, shall we go for a walk or something? I .." she looked from a curious George to a very interested Fred who nodded with a grin, "We need to talk."

"Walk, eh?" George laughed and got up as well. "Well sure Miss Granger, I'll give you a tour and then we can.."

"TALK" Ron said with a muffled laughter, as he got hit on the back of his head by Harry. Harry smiled at Hermione and waved her goodbye.

"You two go already," 

"Yeah!" Fred added, "Off ye go!"

To her surprise, George offered his hand to Hermione and to his surprise she took it, as they walked away from the Weasleys and the Potter and went for a 'walk', to _talk._

**I am so incredibly evil! I know, I know, I haven't updated since.. when? SEPTEMBER ! Or something like that, anyway! I wish I could say that I spend my time well and that I wrote 93858698593 new chapters for my stories. But I haven't. I could also say I was really busy with school (which would be the truth) but it's a lousy excuse anyway. I should have updated sooner!**

**This story got me stuck, anyway. And I hated this chapter and I know that its all too obvious and way too mushy for my liking but you know what? BLAH! I like Georgy and Hermy and I wish my fic was better but this will have to do :) **

**But now.. LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF REVIEWS! Hahaha, I went over the 100! That's just excellent, so thank you thank you thank you! I suppose its all the reviews that convinced me to write at least SOMETHING so there we go! I hope I didnt loose any dedicated readers .... we'll see once this chapter is posted how many reviews I'll get :) **

**I wish I had time for a list of personal thank you's.. but no. So a general THANK YOU will have to do. You guys rock, and I'm really really sorry for the crapness of this chapter and the lack of updating!!!!**


	10. Chapter 10: A walk to remember

"It's all right, you know." George said, after a short walk. He turned to her with a smile on his face and shrugged.

Hermione had just opened her mouth to speak and hesitated. "I'm not sure if I follow you?" 

"Well, you were obviously going to tell me that you're not interested in me and that kissing me was a mistake. You are _obviously_ going to tell me that there will never be anything but friendship between us and that you would like me to stop hassling you."

He shrugged again and looked a bit nervous. "I understand, really."

As he talked, Hermione watched him and to her sadness the goofy George acted far from goofy. _And that's my fault,_ she thought and shook her head.

This made George look up. "What are you shaking your head at?"

Hermione gave him a small smile before sitting down in the grass. She looked up at him and shrugged as well. 

"I'm not really sure if I agree with you on what you just said." she confessed.

"But I just said what..you were going to say?"

"How do you know I was going to say that?" she asked, raising a brow. George still stood, and as he looked down on her, he shuffled uncomfortably on his feet.

"Well, you were, weren't you? Why else did you come all the way here?" he said and put his hands in his pockets. "Look, 'Mione, it's okay really. I guess I just overdid it a bit. You just changed so much, you know. And you're just a really cool girl, not just good looking, but also smart and funny."

Hermione's smile grew larger and George laughed.

"And if you're not incredibly stressed or outsmarting anyone I seriously think you're just lovely. And Fred agrees, even Bill thinks so. And we all know Ron fancied you for ages, and "

"He WHAT?" Hermoines jaw dropped and she gaped at George. "Ron fancied me?"

George stopped his rant and looked down at Hermione, slightly surprised. "Yes? You never knew?" he asked, then grinned. "Oh this is lovely, you never noticed how Ron was all over you??"

Hermione frowned and shook her head. "No, _you _were all over me, Ron and I just constantly fought! He couldn't have liked me, I was all.. big haired and.."

"Not to mention big headed," George added with a wink.

"George!" she snapped, then fell silent. After several seconds she giggled softly. "So that's why he.." With a snigger she looked up at George who was grinning still. "How come I don't notice these things??" 

George walked up to her and dropped himself next to Hermione. He looked at her with a quasi serious look on his face. "If you weren't so caught up with your books all the time, you would have been dating him or someone else a long time ago!"

"There was Viktor!?" she tried.

"Who? Oh.. you mean Krum?" George laughed. "Well, if you say so." 

"Don't mock me, I seriously liked Krum, I mean.. Viktor!"

"I never said you didn't. I'm just trying to think of something there is to like about him.." George seemed to be in deep thought and Hermione looked at him, not understanding.

"How.." she shook her head, "George, how come my conversations with you always drift off from the point? We were discussing something important, and now we're talking about what's hot and what's not about Viktor Krum!!" 

He looked at her and then started laughing, shaking his head with amusement. Hermione was silent for a moment until she started laughing as well. It didn't take long before she was laughing so hard that it hurt her. And then she saw how George was practically rolling around on the ground, laughing.

Which was when she stopped. He didn't notice at first, so she just nervously waited for him to. When he slowly stopped laughing, she bit her lip.

"I wasn't going to say any of those things, you know."

George looked at her, both brows raised. His hair was messed up, a twig was sticking out of it, but he didn't bother to fix it. He looked at her, curiously.

"You aren't going to tell me what?" he asked, crossing his arms as he sat on his knees.

Hermione shifted and rolled her eyes. "I meant, I just wanted to apologize for being such a .. brat. I was really horrible to you, I guess."

"Well I don't know about that, if you think snogging me in the shed is a horrible thing to do then we need to teach you something about life." he said and smiled at her.  
"Seriously?" he asked, and Hermione nodded. "If I hadn't been me, I would have given up on you a long time ago. I mean, it was obvious you weren't interested in me." 

"I never knew _you_ were interested in me, in the first place." Hermione protested, but George pointed at her and shook his head. 

"George is talking, so shush." he said and looked at her. "And I'm a Weasley, I'm stubborn. I'm a Weasley TWIN, so that doubles my stubborness and stupidity." he winked.  
"Basically, I just realized what an incredibly cool person you were, or could be.. and I just lost myself in the wonderful Granger."

"I'm sorry," Hermione started softly.

"For being incredibly cool?" George laughed.

She punched him playfully. "For hurting your feelings, _after_ the snog in the shed." She pulled a face after saying the words, causing George to laugh again. 

"Mione, you crack me up." 

"And I'm not asking you to stop hassling me," she continued, "And it's not that I'm not interested.."

She knew she was turning red when she said the words, and George stopped laughing almost immediately. 

"So you're saying you _are_?"

"Well.. not that.. I mean, yes, but .." she sighed. "You know, I just don't know!"

George smiled and stroke some of her hair out of her face. "You're cute when you give up, tiny."

By now, Hermione was glowing, though she wasn't sure if it was because of what they were discussing, or because of the fact that George was so close to her and touching her hair. without knowing it, she leaned her head against George's hand and shrugged.

"I do know that we have the most random conversations," she said softly. George grinned, nodding his head.

"And that, sometimes," Hermione looked down at the ground they were sitting on, "We just talk too much, period. I mean, look at this situation!" 

There came no response from George, so she continued. "I have to drag you away from your family and Harry and we are sitting here, in the grass, discussing our so called relationship, guessing how much we like each other and .."

"Hermione," George interupted, "Seriously? You are not going to analyze this situation, are you?" he asked.

"Well, I sort of already was, before you interrupted me," she said softly.

"Sorry about that, then, but I feel something incredible is about to happen and I think I should warn you about it."

"What then?" Hermione asked, suddenly a bit worried about what George was talking about. She sat up straight and looked around, almost afraid of what was coming. "What is it?"

She heard a chuckle coming from George. "I'm going to kiss you, you daft girl." he said before he leaned down and placed his lips on hers.

"Bloody hell, Harry, stop _pushing_." Ginny said with annoyance.

"Ginny, what would Mum say if she heard you!?" Ron hissed to his little sister.

"Oh shush Ron," Fred said, pushing aside his little brother.

"Yeah, Mum isn't spying with us in these bushes." Ginny added. Ron merely rolled his eyes and shoved Harry's head aside."

"Hey, Ron!" this one whispered, "I can't see!" 

"Harry, for someone who didn't _want_ to spy on them, you're very eager to have a looksee!" Fred sniggered. 

"Shut up, all of you!" Ginny ordered, "He's touching her hair!"

"Why on earth did we choose this lousy spot to spy on them!" Ron complained as he peeked between the braches.

"Careful Ron, they might see you." Harry warned him.

"Oh Harry, sometimes you can be such a .."

"Ron, CAREFUL," Fred hissed, "I don't think that branch will hold you for.."

"Ah! They are _kissing_!" 

"Bloody hell!"

"RON!"

For seven seconds, Hermione experienced a state of complete bliss as she kissed George Weasley. Then, she heard a girl squealing, followed by the cry of a boy, and then a name she knew too well.

George pulled back, and both their heads turned to the trees up the hill, left from them. To their surprise, they saw Ron floating in the middle of the air. In the trees behind him, Fred was holding Ginny back and Harry held out his wand, obviously trying to keep Ron from smashing on the ground.

"Oh they didn't." Hermione groaned.

"Yes, they did!" George said, both amused and annoyed. He was still holding one of Hermiones hands, but she pulled it back and reached for her wand. 

With an angry look on her face she pointed the wand at Ron. "Accio Ronald Weasley!!" she yelled and within seconds, the floating body of Ron came flying there way. Ron's face was filled with fear, especially when he saw the look on Hermione's face.

"Umph!" he brought out when he landed on the ground. George looked at his little brother, shaking his head. Then he raised his voice and waved an arm in the air.

"Fred, Ginny, Harry. Just come over already, there's no use in hiding!"

Hermione looked at Ron, still pointing her wand at him. Ron rubbed his butt and gulped.

"George, you mind taking that wand away from Hermione, I don't like the look on her face."

George grinned. "Who says I won't let her do whatever she's planning to do?" 

To Ron's surprise, Hermione smirked at this and didn't move when George put an arm around her.

"Seriously though, you guys." he said, and crawled back a bit. "You wouldn't .. I mean, we didn't.."

George shrugged. "You did interrupt a very special moment, so I think it's only fair that we,"

"_thank_you for not minding your own business and ruining a perfect moment, yes." Hermione said, as her cheeks slightly reddened.

"Ah, come on Hermione, George. It wasn't just me, and you know I didn't mean to.."

"You snogged!" Ginny's high pitched voice suddenly interrupted. 

"Ginny!" Fred sniggered but then looked at his twin. "George!" he laughed.

Ginny stood still and panted, pointing at Hermione and George. "I can't believe it, the boys were right!" she coughed. "You guys, there really IS something going on between the two of you!"

Harry joined the group, looking slightly emberassed. Hermione glared at him also. He gave her a sheepish smile.

"Did we.."

"YES." she answered and then looked at Ginny who was still pointing at them with a trembling finger.

"Oh, I can't believe this! Hermione, and .. and.. George!!" she giggled. "Oh if Mum finds out she'll"

"No!" George and Hermione simultaniously said.

"Oh come on George," Ron said as he got up and rubbed his arm. "It's not like anyone at home DIDN'T notice. And of course, Bill told her."

"Bill!!?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes Bill! But who cares about Bill anyway!" Ron said, and shook his head. "Aren't you afraid we are upset about all of this?!"

"All of what?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"You and George, together!"

"Well.. no I didn't think about that!" Hermione said, then paused. "We're together now?" she asked and looked at George.

Harry laughed. "You _are_ together now, please tell us you are."

"Don't worry mate," George grinned, wrapping his arm around Hermione's waist, causing her to blush furiously.

Ron shrugged, "Well.. good. It took you guys AGES to finally snog, and that gave us time to get used to the idea."

"Ok, I am getting very uncomfortable by all of you saying you KNEW before WE knew.." she admitted, causing the others to laugh.

Fred then pulled his sister at her hair. "Let's go Gin Gin, we should really leave the lovebirds to it. I think we should get our brooms and head back to the Burrow."

Gin reluctantly obeyed and followed him.

"Fred's right," Harry said to Ron, "Besides, we should clean up the kitchen, we made quite a mess this morning when we made ourselves breakfast."

They began to walk back up the hill. George and Hermione laughed as they heard Fred say: "You're so not funny, Harry." 

And with that, they were alone again. Hermione put her wand away, and only then she remembered how furious she had been a few minutes ago.

"Well that was annoying," George muttered and smiled at her. She shrugged. 

"It figures." she said, "Apparently, everytime I kiss you someone has to catch us."

"It's just such a good show," George shrugged and ran a hand through her hair as she laughed.

"Yeah, right."

"No, I'm serious!" George grinned, "Well as serious as I can get. There's just nothing you're NOT good at, Hermione."

Hermione grinned and brought her face closer to his. It was weird, for once she didn't feel uncomfortable around him. She didn't feel awkward or emberassed. Not even the slightest bit annoyed. She just felt.. right, especially George lifted her chin with his finger and chuckled.

"Fifty points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger," he whispered before he kissed her again.

**:( I knew I waited too long with posting that last chapter! I lost all my dedicated readers and reviewers! Boohoo, I only got six reviews for that last chapter! Of course, I knew it was crap chapter, but stillll.. Anyway, I updated again! (You didn't expect THAT, I know!) and I do believe only one chapter will come after this one and then it's done! Over! I want to write a new HP fic, haha, but I have to finish my other ones first. Especially Lee's diary.**

**Go read my other fic: Lee's Diary!! **

**Padfootpuppygirl****: I am glad you thought it wa cute! I never really thought about G/H before, but it just sort of popped in my head as I was writing. Seriously though, it's possible and perfect! Glad you liked my story and look how fast I updated!**

**Aindel**** S. Druida: Wow, I'm honoured that you didn't think it was crap! Haha, I updated already, aren't you proud? Thanks for your review!**

**Damsel-Of-Distress: Thanks!**

**Sapphite**** Butterfly: :D Thank you!**

**Love2045: I am sorry for keeping you waiting! Thank you for your review, hahaha! **

**Amy85: I know I know, it took me a while, but thanks for reviewing anyway , and hope you liked this chapter! **

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! ... and while you're still here, leave a review !**


	11. Chapter 11: No More Summertime

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**Chapter 11 : No More Summertime **

"I can't believe the summer's over already!" Ginny yelled above the noise and gave a sad smile. She unwillingly shook her head in an attempt to stop her mother from fussing with her hair. Molly Weasley let go of her daughters red hair, reluctantly and looked at her children. 

As Ginny sat down on her drunk with a disappointed look on her face – she always did prefer summer over school – Harry and Ron laughed at the young girl and waved at two familiar looking boys. Ron's face was also covered with freckles; this summer had been extra warm and even managed to bring some color into Harry's face. They looked handsome, Molly thought proudly. 

"I can't believe I'm going back to school," another voice next to her muttered in reply to Ginny's comment. A triumphal smile appeared on Molly's face as she turned to Fred. He looked miserable, as far as Fred could look miserable. She had forced him to get rid of his set of expensive clothes and he was wearing the same old uniform as before. Her sons were going back to Hogwarts, where they belonged. She knew Fred – and George, for that matter – weren't too happy about it, but something told her that they would adjust. In the end, she reasoned, they would thank her.

Her smile grew even larger as her eyes fell on her other twin, George. He muttered something in agreement with his brother and his girlfriend slapped him on the back of his head. Hermione looked happily at him as he turned to her, seemingly upset.

"Hermione! Stop doing that!" he whined, but his eyes showed the playful twinkle Molly knew all too well. Hermione saw it too and laughed nervously.

"Oh come on, George, school won't be that bad," she said, but then fell silent. She glanced around the platform and tried to find someone she knew. What would Lavender and Parvati say if they saw her here with George? Even worse, what would Millicent Bulstrode say to her if she knew about this! A smug smile appeared on her face. Millicent was one thing she hadn't missed this summer. Millicent and Pansy Parkinson of course. 

The thought of the two Slytherin girls she disliked most brought her to her next worry. Draco Malfoy. She hadn't seen him yet, but what if he saw her. He would make her life miserable, she was _sure _of it! And he had been right, that one day in Diagon Alley! George Weasley fancied Granger. And she liked him back.

"One purple owl for your thoughts," a familiar voice whispered in her ear. Hermione smiled at the tingling feeling in her neck, caused by George's warm breathe and she turned around. 

"I was thinking about," she quirked a brow and then continued, "Malfoy." 

Georges jaw dropped. "Okay," he said slowly, "that's possible. Might I ask why the hell you're thinking about that slimy git?" 

She chuckled, aggressiveness didn't suit George. "I was just thinking about what he would say about, well.. us." 

"Who gives a damn about what Malfoy thinks about you, Hermione!" Ron cut in. She looked at him, half annoyed, half surprised. 

He shrugged. "What, I didn't know it was private conversation!"

Hermione rolled her eyes but before she could say anything, George turned her head his way and smiled. "Ronniekins is right, though"

"Geoorge!!" Ron's voice sounded.

"Doesn't matter what _anyone _thinks about us," he told her and grinned, "As long as we're okay with us, it's fine by me."

"Oh George," she sighed, "Sometimes you can be such a .."

"A what?" he said, the same grin still present,"

Hermione sighed again and smiled. "A sweetheart," she said and kissed him, much to George's happiness.

At that point, Harry and Ron broke down in laughter and Hermioine turned red and stepped back. She glared at her two best friends, who nearly choked.

"Oh Hermione, you _heard_ yourself!!" Ron laughed, but tried to shut himself up as he saw the look in his mother's eyes. Even though the sixteen year old boy towered over his mother, one glare could silence him still.

Molly Weasley nodded with satisfaction as all her children continued babbling and waited for the train to arrive. This had been a good summer. She had enjoyed Bill's company - it made up for Charley's absence -, Hermione and Harry had both been lovely at the Burrow and best of all: she was one step closer to grandchildren!

Fred eyed his mother with suspicion and tapped her on the shoulder. "Dearest mother, I know that look in your eyes." he said and grinned. "You're thinking about _grandchildren!_" 

"WHAT?!" 

Molly turned slightly red as Hermione and George took a step back and bumped into Ron and Harry. 

"Oh mom, come _on_!" George exclaimed.

Molly chuckled when she saw the expression on Hermiones face. "Oh that's nonsense Fred!" she told the eldest twin and shook her head at George.

"I was just thinking how cute the two of you looked together," she explained innocently.

Fred, and then Ron too, sniggered. "And _then_ you thought about your grandchildren, ma," Ron said.

"Admit it!" Fred added happily and high-fived his brother. Harry shook his head and exchanged semi annoyed glanced with Ginny.

Ginny looked up at Hermione and studied her brother for a moment. "So George," she said, "And Fred.. You do realize you are repeating a year now, right? So that means you're only one year above Harry and you'll be the oldest Gryffindor students!" 

Fred and George looked at each other and then at their sister. Fred frowned. "Your point being?"

"Well, no real point I suppose," Ginny shrugged, "I just thought I'd point that out for you." she smiled sweetly and then waved at a blonde girl that approached them.

"Luna! Hey Luna, over here!" 

Luna Lovegood made her way through the crowd and stood at a distance from the group of Weasleys. The others greeted her, but Luna merely stared at Hermione who was holding hands with George.

"You two are dating?"

Hermione looked from her hand back to Luna. "Err, yes?"

Luna simply stared at her and then looked at Ginny. "Well I didn't know that," she said calmly and grabbed _The Quibbler _from her bag. Hermoine wanted to ask her a few things, curious how her summer had been, but before she could an extremely loud voice sounded over the platform.

"WEASLEYS!" 

The twins looked up and grinned. "JORDAN!" they yelled back and waved enthusiastically at Lee Jordan who ran their way. Lee Jordan, their best friend throughout Hogwarts, had been on a holiday to Jamaica and Hermione knew the twins hadn't seen him all summer.

"Out of my way, out of my way," the boy yelled, pushing people aside and jumped on Fred as soon as he was in reach. "Gred! Boy! I missed you so!" 

"Leoanard! Good old chap! It's been ages!" Fred laughed as he hugged his friend. Lee let go off him with a grin and turned to George.

"Forge!" he said happily, "How the he-" he stopped in mid sentence as he saw how George was still holding Hermiones hand. Hermione, by now, had turned slightly pink.

"What's this?" Lee said in surprise, and stared at Hermione and George.

"Nice to see you, Lee!!" George laughed and held up Hermiones hand. "This is Hermione," he said simply. "You _know_ her!" 

Lee nodded, his mouth still open. "Yes, that's Granger, George!" he said and gave George a knowing look.

George grinned. "I'm aware of that, Lee. She's also my girlfriend."

Lee smiled broadly and gave a girly squeal. "Oh my GAWD!" he yelled, "You didn't!" 

"Lee Jordan!" Molly Weasley interrupted, "We can hear you without all the yelling, thank you!"

Lee bowed in front of Molly and grinned. "My apologies Mrs Weasley, so _lovely_ to see you again, though!" 

"Yes, dear," she smiled. "But what are _you _doing here? Please tell me you _did _graduate?!" 

"Of course I did! I'm only here to say goodbye to my little sister, Natalie" he made a waving motion in the direction of where his parents stood, "You must be _ever_ so pleased to have your boys back in school!"

Molly beamed, and she could hear her twins groan. "They're just as excited, I assure you," she said. 

"And the fact your George is finally dating, isn't that just precious!" Lee laughed and earned a slap on the head from Hermione.

"She's good at that, I warn you," George laughed and hugged on to his girlfriend. "Can't you just come with us, Lee? For fun?" he then asked, with a pleading look.

Fred clung to his best friend and nodded . "Yes Lee, do come with us. We'll be lonely without you!"

Lee laughed, "George won't, he has Hermiooone!"

"Well, more reasons for you to come! George _left _me! For Granger, no less!" 

"Enough already!" Molly said, as she grabbed Fred by the ear.

"Ouch, ouch, Mom! Don't do that, that's soo .."

"Childish?" Hermione suggested as she stood next to him with her arms crossed. 

"Just the thing for you then!" Ginny added happily and stood up. "Well, it's time guys!"

"All right, move along now. Lee, since you're here, help the girls with the trunks will you? And George, don't forget Zeus' cage!"

"No mother," the dull reply came as the four Weasleys, plus Hermione, Harry, Lee and Luna made their way to the train. Molly hugged each and everyone of her children goodbye – much to Ron, Fred and Georges dismay – and pulled both Harry and Hermione in a warm hug. 

"Goodbye, dears, I hope you had a nice summer." 

"Yes, Mrs Weasley, it was wonderful, as always," Harry said as he took Hedwigs cage and grinned at Hermione. "I know Hermione agrees with me." 

"Oh do shut up, Harry," Hermione laughed and nodded at Molly. "I did have a lovely time, thank you so much for everything."

"Now dear, you make sure George behaves and does his homework in time. If there's anything you need to know about him, owl me! And you remember what we talked about the other day?"

Hermione blushed, again. How could she forget? It was the whole 'birds and the bees' talk all over again, the same one her mother tried to have with her, only this time it was wizard style. Molly had struggled with finding the right words and in the end Hermione didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. 

She nodded, "Err, I'll remember, Mrs Weasley. Don't worry." She glanced at George who waited for her in the train, "I really have to go now!" 

"Of course," Molyl said and sighed happily. "Off you go, and keep out of trouble you!" she added to the rest of the children.

"BYE MOTHER!" the Weasley children chanted and laughed as they went off to find a place to sit. Hermione shook her head as she walked up to George who gave her a curious look.

"What did she tell you?" he asked, as he wrapped his arm around her waste.

"Believe me, you don't want to know." Hermione said, shaking her head once more.

"All right," he said slowly and closed the door behind him. "So Ms Granger, are you ready for a year with George Weasley by your side?"

She smiled. "George, you're like a freckle." she started, remembering what she had said the first time she kissed him, "I can't get rid of you, I got used to you. And in the end, I really started to like you, too." 

"Good enough for me," George said happily and ruffled her hair. 

**The End**

Dammit :)


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